


Try Your Hardest

by TheLegendOf_Bre



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Child Abuse, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Grandmothers, Miyagi - Freeform, OC-Eri Hamura, OC-Uta Iriye, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 54,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24119113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLegendOf_Bre/pseuds/TheLegendOf_Bre
Summary: Before becoming a pro, Ushijima Wakatoshi had another good thing going for him.Uta Iriye was someone with a habit of talking from morning until night, a person with a kind and sweet disposition. It must have been a surprise to everyone how the two became so close, but slowly and with a little support, the two were able to open their hearts to each other.But what happened between the two after high school?You'd have to start from the beginning to know.. . . . ."He was too far from my reach. I would have held him back.""She had higher goals, greater passions, who was I to stop her from doing all of that?". . . . .
Relationships: Semi Eita & Original Female Character(s), Shiratorizawa Volleyball Team, Ushijima Wakatoshi/Original Female Character(s), Ushiwaka - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 38





	1. Reunion

Most of the alumni were present for the reunion that Shiratorizawa held every couple of years for those who have graduated out of the volleyball team.

It had been four years since they graduated high school. Most of the third years from that time like Semi, Yamagata, Ohira, and Tendou have either freshly graduated from university or have great careers set ahead for them. Ushijima, obviously, had been training hard to keep up with his volleyball club. His season was over for now, but he kept up his training regardless if it was on or off season.

"Oi, oi, oi! Miracle boy, Wakatoshi!" Tendou greeted eccentrically and took the only open seat left in the table. They didn't expect any less of him, but tried to avert their eyes from everyone who was watching as the red head made a scene to salute his team.

In a table it was the star team that fought against Karasuno. Ushijima, Tendou, Semi, Yamagata, Goshiki, Ohira, and Shirabu sat in a table with loads of different meats and vegetables going around the table.

"Fashionably late, nothing has really changed I guess," Semi pointed his chopsticks sarcastically at Tendou.

"Time is relative Semisemi! All of you were always early to practice, so me being late balanced the odds!" the red head shrugged.

"That's never an excuse for being late! All of us waited for you to start eating! And stop calling me that!" Semi began to place meat in the burner.

"Well who asked you to?" Tendou dug into a bowl of rice.

"If by some things never change you mean the fact that the two of you don't ever stop bickering then you'd be right for the first time," Shirabu sighed.

"Still got a smart mouth. You been beat up by anyone yet?" Semi smirked.

"No, as a matter of fact, I have not been beat up, and I don't think I plan on it either," he stated firmly. It was nice for everyone to see that he was still the same old snarky boy as ever.

" _Anyway_ ," Ohira stated rather loudly to interrupt a further argument, "I'm glad to see you all. I know we see each other on breaks and such but this reunion is rather nice as well."

Ushijima kind of just heard background noise. He was so hungry while waiting for Tendou to arrive that all he was focused on now was finding the right moment for a good slab of meat to be cooked to his liking.

"So how's volleyball going for everyone who is still playing?" Tendou asked.

"Season ended alright, I'm getting more adjusted to this Division 1 league, my talents are being well exploited," Goshiki conceitedly brushed hair out of his face. He still had the same bowl cut he did in high school. _Maybe_ he might have looked cooler if it wasn't for that haircut.

"Going pretty good, my team did well this year but we didn't get to finals unfortunately. But next year we won't lose!" Yamagata scooped a few pieces of meat and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Things are going okay, it's still a lot of fun," Ohira smiled to Tendou and gave him a thumbs up.

Everyone turned to the last person left to answer who, quite frankly, was not paying attention to a single word anyone was saying.

_Too hungry...have to eat._

He pointed his chopsticks at the grill, the piece of meat his mouth was watering for was about to be cooked to perfection. The alumni around him sweat dropped just realizing Ushijima hadn't changed one bit...even his appetite.

As he slowly reached for it, Tendou swiped it away from him, much to the giant's disappointment. He snapped his head to his strange looking friend and gave him a glare.

"How _are_ you?" he threw the piece of meat on Ushijima's plate. It was like giving a treat to a dog after they did a trick.

"Good, won Division 1 league. Worked hard," was his flat answer. They were half pleased with it, expecting him to end it at the first word.

"How's medical school stuff going Shirabu?" Tendou seemed to be the only one talking, mostly because everyone was eating. The only reason why he was late was because he ate right before heading over. Terrible idea, really.

"Good, I think I'm performing well. It's competitive, but I have a few good connections, so I managed to get an internship during the summer," he smiled proudly.

"Ooooo, where at?" Tendou interrogated, everyone turned his attention to him.

"Iriye Pharmaceuticals Labratory. It's a research internship," he smiled, "I asked Iriye-san myself and she made it happen within a few hours."

Upon hearing the name, his upper lip flinched ever so slightly, no one noticed the gesture, luckily. However, the conversation shifted towards her and he couldn't say he was enjoying where it was going.

"I saw she graduated with crazy honors and stuff. Man, I wish I was _half_ as smart as she was," Semi frowned at his food.

"How is she doing, do you know Ushijima?" Ohira asked the question he was hoping no one asked.

"Probably fine," he answered, not trying to say anymore.

" _Now_ you're attentive to the questions?" Tendou nudged his side with his boney elbow. Ushijima ignored his commentary, choosing just to stare at the food to avoid unnecessary conversation. But Satori kept going as he always did, "do you still keep in touch with her?"

"Not really. I congratulated her on graduating, she congratulated me on winning the league. That was the first time I talked to her in about a year," he went on more than he wanted to and cursed himself for that.

The team found that they loved asking about her because it was a good way to get him talking. They loved her too, of course, Iriye Uta was a good friend to everyone in the volleyball team. Or just everyone in general.

"A _year_?! That's so long even I text her every few weeks or months! Aren't the two of you close?" Tendou leaned over to pester the young giant.

"Well.." Ushijima picked up cooked vegetables and pieces of meat from the grill, "we were."

Everyone in the table visibly let out a sigh of disappointment. They all had the same thought:

_How dense do you have to be to ruin the perfect relationship you had with her?_

"How did the two of you become friends in the first place?" Goshiki asked the star question that really got everything going.

"I'm curious too, actually, by the time I came you and Iriye-san were good friends. I always wondered how someone was able to be such good friends with someone dense as you," Shirabu said in sort of a nagging tone.

"Not important," Ushijima shook his head.

"Hey actually, now _I_ want to know this too," Eita pulled his chair closer to the table and got comfortable for the story.

"Oyaaaa, Ushijima story time?" Tendou pestered, he already actually knew most of the history they shared from start to finish.

"No."

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" Tendou, Semi, and Goshiki pestered him continuously. The others did nothing to stop them, and stared at Ushijima waiting for the story.

He sighed, it was a long time ago anyway. Guess it makes for a funny story now looking back on it anyway, is what he thought.

Ushijima had no idea how long these fools would keep him talking for that day.

So he started, "In our first year at Shiratorizawa.."


	2. Year 1: Part 1

Ushijima Wakatoshi was never one to get upset over many things, but an unfortunate series of events threw him off his game just a little more than usual that day.

He didn't get much sleep the previous night. He was studying until the wee hours of the morning for a midterm that he had to get a decent grade for in order to play on the team. Time had managed to fly right past him and before he knew it, he was only running on two hours of sleep before having to wake up to go through a strict training regimen. He was so tired by the time the test came around that he might as well have been asleep for it.

Stockpiling a lack of sleep, no breakfast, and probably doing terribly on a test, just added a mountain of stress for practice after school. He got tired easily, he wasn't spiking the balls the way he wanted to, serving the way he wanted to, and all the hits he was supposed to receive just flew right past him, not awake enough to be attentive in the slightest.

Coach Washijou wasn't pleased at all with his performance and called him out several times in that day for it. Ushijima wasn't mad about it, he thought he deserved it for performing so horrendously. What was upsetting was the 100 serves he was ordered to do after practice once everyone was gone. What's more is that they closed the gym since practice was over. So he just had to imagine the court itself while he was outside in the cold.

There was a concrete wall behind the sports storage rooms usually used for tennis training that he was serving the ball against. He placed a few markers on the wall and tried to hit every exact target until he got to 100, or got them right at all.

After getting agitated when he failed to hit them, he held the ball in his hands and tapped his head with it, _I'm going to make this one_ , he thought to himself with confidence.

And with all the strength of his frustration, he threw the ball up high, jumped up to meet the ball at the perfect position for him to sling his arm back and release it like a cannon.

The sad thing is, he definitely would have made that shot if someone hadn't run past the concrete wall. He couldn't blame her since it would be impossible to know he was practicing without being on his side of the building.

The ball hit the left side of her head and caused a loud echo, and she was unfortunately close enough to the concrete wall that when she lost her balance from the impact, the right side of her face was smashed against the wall.

She fell to the ground and didn't move at all for a good few seconds. He was scared to move as well, he had just put in all the strength he could muster into that one shot, and she took it straight to the cranium.

When he noticed her move, he quickly walked to her and knelt down to make sure she wasn't concussed or anything. He helped her sit up and asked her simple questions.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Umm, Shiratorizawa High School," she said dizzily.

"What country are you in?"

"Japan?" she said it like it was more of a question.

"Japan?" he repeated.

"I'm not?" she asked.

"You tell me," he stated so she can reaffirm.

"I mean, I know I just got hit, but as far as I know I'm in Japan," she was rubbing the side of her head that hit the wall, "that really hurt, you have a killer serve, or hit, or I don't know exactly what you were-" She abruptly stopped when she looked at the hand she was just rubbing herself with.

_Red._

Ushijima and her just stared at her hand for a moment, then looked to each other wide eyed as if the both were asking: _what the heck do we do?_

Initial encounters with Wakatoshi were usually plain for most people since he didn't talk too much, but interestingly enough, the circumstances made this first impression much different than most.

He quickly pulled her to her feet and asked, "can you stand? The nurse's office is still open at this time, we should go."

The girl nodded and slowly started trudging her way towards the infirmary, he walked close behind, carrying her backpack and a duffle bag, to make sure she actually knew where she was going.

Once she was in good hands, he went back to collect his belongings then returned to make sure she wasn't going to die or bleed to death or have any massive brain injury.

The day was really odd for him. He hit a few people during matches and such, but never anyone straight to the face with a good amount of force. He hoped that since he was tired it wasn't too strong of a hit, but her head did hit that hard, concrete wall and basically bounced off.

Just the thought of it made him internally wince. He knew firsthand how tough a shot like that could be.

It was an anxious 20 minutes of waiting before she came out. She held an ice pack on the left side of her head where the ball had hit, and her right side seemed to be a little swollen, but better.

"Are you the one that hit me?" she asked, not in an angry or menacing way.

He nodded, "I am sorry."

She simply laughed and waved her free hand, "I didn't know if it was you since everything was hazy for a few minutes! But don't mind it! Accidents happen all the time!"

That wasn't really the reaction he was expecting.

"My head is a little swollen and I'm probably gonna have a bruise on my face but I only bled for a little, all we had to do was wash it!" she gave him a few quick nods as she collected her belongings, "thank you for bringing these I didn't know whether I had them on me or not!"

"Are you okay then?" he asked.

"Yeah!" she confidently marched forward, but ran into the door frame as she walked. The two were silent for a moment as she stood there in shame.

She was not, in fact, okay.

He didn't say anything, but he grabbed her duffle bag from her shoulder and started walking out the door, "I can walk you back." So they did.

"I've seen you before I know you're in the volleyball team and you're super good, but what is your name? I'm sorry I can't seem to recall it," she tried to think back.

"You don't have to apologize for not knowing the name of a stranger." He was bewildered at the thought that she was doing so when they didn't even know each other. Even if he was well known in the area, it's not like she's forced to know _everyone_ who is _anyone_.

"Ah, you're right. I'm Iriye Uta, also a first year. You can call me Iriye, or whatever really," she smiled at him. It was weak and tired, her head was probably throbbing from the pain.

"Ushijima Wakatoshi," he nodded his head as a short bow.

This was when he noticed how tiny she was, probably shorter than most people their age. Wakatoshi was much larger than people their age, but they were just in opposite ends of the spectrum. It was like a fully grown cedar tree next to a sprouting sapling.

"That was a crazy hit, you must be really good at volleyball huh? Wait that's a dumb question, _of course_ you are you're always on the news and stuff," she hit her head with the palm of her hand, a bad decision really. "Ouch."

_'Is she really okay?'_ he wondered.

He let her lead the way since he had no idea where she lived, they seemed to be walking for quite a while and she stumbled back and forth a few times. He really questioned whether he gave her some sort of brain injury.

"It's funny how this wouldn't have happened if I didn't stay a little later than usual. I'm in the swimming team and I wanted to do a few more laps before leaving. If I had just left I wouldn't have gotten hit!" she said, fascinated.

"I should have left earlier because it's freezing, and-MY JACKET!" she suddenly yelled, startling Ushijima. "Sorry...I forgot my jacket in the storage room again," she sighed.

_Again?_ he thought.

Throughout their time walking, she just _talked_. She wasn't loud or annoying though, she just kind of pointed things out and muttered things to herself, bringing up small random topics and asking weird questions.

He wasn't able to process the majority of things she was saying since she moved on quickly and he was ridiculously tired, but he wondered if this was a result of hitting her too hard.

She was charming, though. Her hand gestures added a lot of effect to what she was talking about, she didn't speak fast, and looked at Ushijima to make sure she wasn't losing him (though she was because he was tired). Not to mention, she had a soft voice that was more soothing to hear than it was annoying.

"Do you by any chance live in this direction Ushijima-san?" she questioned.

He just nodded, it was one of the few times in his life he lied. Ushijima actually lived in the students dorms at Shiratorizawa, but he didn't tell her that because he felt that she was the type to feel bad about someone going out of their way for her. It wasn't a complete lie either, his actual house was a few blocks from where they were at that moment.

As they walked she talked about their surroundings. She pointed out a small shop she said had the best Sakura mochi, a corner store where they sell good pork buns, and a street that hadn't been fixed in a few good years that caused her to get into a bike accident. There was probably more, but that was all he could seem to recollect from that conversation.

They came around to a very traditional (and expensive) looking home. There weren't many of those left around this area, but this one seemed to have maintained its cultural integrity throughout many years. There was a tall, dark wood gate with an intricate design surrounding the house, and right in the middle, two doors that were larger than Ushijima himself. There was a nameplate in the side that read " _Iriye_ ".

"Thank you for walking me home Ushijima-san. I'm apologize if I was an inconvenience or interrupted your practice," she bowed. He thought about how she spoke very formally.

"It's okay, I'm sorry I hit you. Get some rest," he also bowed slightly.

She pulled the handle to the front gate and began to walk in, he turned his back to begin walking home.

"I'll see you at school!" she called out to him.

He turned to see her head poking out the gate with a smile on her face.

"Yeah," the stoic nodded and turned back around. He didn't know the way to get back to school, so he quickly looked up directions before he started to aimlessly wander around.

_40 minutes?_ he read from the navigation app, his eyebrow twitching just a little. _I am sleeping when I get back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little confused with how A03 publishes stories so sorry if my format is strange hehe


	3. Year 1: Part 2

Ushijima eventually memorized how to get back from her house.

He didn't really know how he got dragged into it every single time after that day. He would finish practice, walk with her home, then jog back to school. Iriye never asked him to go with her nor did she question why they had started that routine. Practice for all athletics ended at the same time, so they always saw each other when finishing up.

It started off that they would finish cleaning up their respective training areas and Iriye would pass by the gym to leave campus, always asking "are you walking home?" He never said no. They didn't interact in school or even _see_ each other, but everyday, without fail, they traveled together.

Their journeys were never boring. She always had a topic of conversation, and when she didn't she would talk about trees or the weather. It was a quirk of hers he started to pick up on. He didn't talk much himself, but gave a few comments here and there and asked questions when he was confused because she used a lot of idioms and metaphors he didn't quite get or took too literally.

There was once Iriye was recounting to him about a game they lost by a very close margin and one of the girls was complaining about how she should have put more kick into her dive and the conversation went something like this:

__________

"It was a close game and it was a little disappointing because it was our first loss of the season, but we told her there was no use in crying over spilt milk," Iriye shrugged it off.

"She spilled milk and cried about it?" he questioned.

Not knowing Ushijima too well, she didn't know whether he was joking or speaking seriously. She just stared at him blankly like there was a question mark hanging over her head.

"If she cries about something that simple I'm sure she cried about losing the game too," he grimaced.

"U-Ushijima-san, that's just a saying. She didn't spill any milk or cry, it's just like a phrase, you know?" she tried to explain.

Now _he_ was giving her the same look she gave him just a moment ago.

"So who spilled the milk? Did anyone actually cry?" he asked.

"The saying ' _crying over spilt milk_ ' means complaining about something that is irreversible, like losing a game and worrying whether there is something you should have done better or different," she smiled, explaining with hand gestures as usual.

"Oh...I see," he nodded, "that's interesting."

That was really the moment she found out what kind of person Ushijima Wakatoshi was. It humored her.

__________

Lunch was going on right now, he was eating in the cafeteria with Satori Tendou. Wakatoshi didn't choose to sit with him (he didn't mind), but Tendou was intrigued by his stoicism since day one. He made it a thing to try to be friends with him, or simply learn what went through his head.

Tendou was going off about a manga he was reading, Ushijima couldn't remember the name, but he was saying something about a character who was being annoying or something like that.

"Ya know it's just like..that stuff happened yeeeeears ago, so why doesn't he get over it? He's never gonna get stronger if he's aaaaalways gonna be hung over about letting his friend die all those years ago!" Satori shook his head and ate slowly.

"So he is crying over spilt milk?" there was almost a glint of satisfaction in his eyes when he used the new phrase he learned.

Tendou just gave him the ' _what the heck are you talking about_ ' look, "I _guess_ you can say that."

"I understand," Ushijima nodded.

A strange quirk about Ushijima was that he liked to learn new things. Random things, important things, volleyball things. When he learned phrases, he liked to snuff out the moment he was able to use them. When it was an interesting fact, he'd repeat it a few time so that other people could feel the amazement he did (although most of the time they didn't). And when it was something about volleyball...well he just went crazy to practice more.

When they were walking back to their classroom, a crowd looking out the doors to a courtyard caught their attention. Ushijima didn't mind it at first but Satori stopped and watched, so he caught a glance.

_It's Iriye,_ he noticed. It slipped his mind that she attended the same school he did, it was the first he had ever seen her in the school uniform.

She was in trouble it seemed.

She was kneeling down with another first year student who was on the ground holding his cheek as if he had just been punched. Towering over them was a third year student who seemed angry about something.

"It's none of your business pipsqueak, get the fuck outta here!" he yelled.

She stood up and raised her hands defensively in between the two. "I must remind you that robbing someone of their money is criminal inside and outside of school! I cannot let you threaten him!"

"Shouldn't someone call a teacher?" a random student asked, no one moved though.

Ushijima was slightly annoyed. She was small compared to the enemy and Uta probably knew it just as well as he did, there was no way she could defend herself or the young man behind her. How could she throw herself in a situation like that?

"Aya aya, poor Iriye," Tendou shook his head.

"You know her?" Ushijima asked.

"You don't? Her name is always at the very peak of top scoring students and she's really popular," Tendou raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know that." He continued to watch and wondered how she made a reckless decision if she was apparently smart.

"And you think a shrimp like you could stop me?" the older boy laughed, walking closer to her to intimidate her.

"No, of course I don't. I just have to stall your two brain cells for long enough until someone who can shows up!" she retorted.

Ah, so she did know. _And_ she had a mouth.

The third year finally lost it with her. He grabbed her by one shoulder and just pushed her aside, the way an angry person would roughly slide open a window curtain. She stumbled to the ground, falling on her knees. He approached the first year, but Iriye stood up quickly and grabbed him from behind by the waist and held back the arm he was going to attack with.

"You're so damn annoying!" he swung his elbow behind him and was hitting her continuously in the face with excessive force until she fell to the ground. The first year she was defending took a stand and grabbed their senpai to stop attacking and the two exchanged fists. This is when everyone finally started to losing it and people ran to call a teacher.

"What's going on here?!" one of the gym coaches prevented the fighting from ensuing any further. "You're coming with me you trouble maker!" he grabbed the third year by the collar and dragged him through the crowd of students who were watching.

"Thank you for defending me Iriye-san, I'm sorry you got hurt," the first year bowed his head to the floor.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sorry I don't know your name and you know mine that's a little embarrassing," she chuckled it off as if the two weren't gonna have black eyes tomorrow.

_She doesn't even know him?_ Ushijima frowned just a little bit.

She stood up from the ground and took a look around to see the mass of students who were watching what had just happened. You might expect to see someone be a little embarrassed after getting beat up, but if looks could kill, this was a one hit KO.

The disappointment in her steely eyes was as vast as gray clouds in a violent storm that encompasses miles and miles of land. Her expression was clear, ' _all you people and not a single one of you could step up to help_ '. It was a heavy slap to the face for everyone, her gaze was so intense that people just began to walk away with guilt written all over their face.

It made Ushijima feel helpless for the first time in his life.

"Wakatoshi-kun let's get going I think I might suffocate if I stand here any longer," Tendou tapped his shoulder.

"..yeah," he followed behind his red headed teammate as he made eye contact with Iriye, the look gave him a chill he refused to physically react to.

"Those eyes are intense," Tendou shivered, "she reminds me of an eagle or a hawk. Something with a scary death stare."

Ushijima likes eagles and hawks, but now he won't look at them the same after that comment.

"Yeah..they are," Ushijima agreed again.

The rest of the day went on as usual and Ushijima thought a little too hard about the incident that happened during lunch. It didn't affect his killer performance in practice in any way shape or form, but it was sitting on his mind.

_Those eyes, those absolute killer eyes._

Satori retold the story to the whole team while doing warm ups. The third year students in the team noted that the guy who started the fight was a punk that everyone in their grade knew.

_He's definitely a punk,_ Ushijima insulted him in his mind.

The routine continued, he waited in front of the gym until she came, and she always did.

There was usually a "thank you for waiting Ushijima-san!" or "sorry to keep you waiting" or "hope practice was good!" that preceded her noticing him, but she just looked him in the eyes with the same look as earlier and walked.

Why he followed when she was in such a bad mood?

Ushiwaka had no idea.

The trip was 40 minutes to go and another coming back. Why was he wasting an hour and 20 minutes of his life when she was angry?

No clue.

This was the first time she didn't talk on their walks. She was always super cheerful and smiley, even when she would express her frustration over something she usually just laughed it off. But she was in a **_foul_** mood.

It wasn't until they were at her front gate that he spoke up.

"You shouldn't get yourself into situations like that if you're just going to be angry about it afterwards," Ushijima spoke bluntly as usual.

Her grip on the door handle was like a vise.

_Oh no._

"And who else would have done it?" she didn't yell, but her tone was noticeably upset.

"You don't pick your nose into other people's business."

"Then I just stand there and watch him take the punches?" there were her hand gestures, but they had a little more punch to them at this moment.

"You should have called a teacher."

"Before stepping out I told everyone to call a teacher and they just _watched_! _You_ just watched!" she finally raised her voice.

He can't argue and say that it was still the wrong decision. She followed the proper procedure of a bystander, it wasn't really her who failed.

"I'm sorry."

"If someone had called for help the moment I asked, my face wouldn't be hurting right now! He hit me harder than you did with the volleyball!"

"I'm sorry about that too."

"Ah! Stop apologizing!"

"...I'm sorry."

She was going to lose it again when someone instead walked through the gate of her home. It was a very sweet looking elderly woman.

"Iriye? I heard you yelling are you-" her eyes went a little wide when she noticed the swelling on her face. She averted her eyes to Ushijima who she gave another look that felt like daggers through his soul.

_They're definitely related_.

"Ah obaasan it wasn't him!" Iriye waved her hands to get her attention.

"Oh," her gaze softened, "hello young man are you a friend of my granddaughter?" Her smile was as bright and sweet as Iriye's.

"This is Ushijima Wakatoshi, he's on the volleyball team at my school. He's the one that's been walking home with me," Uta answered for him.

"Nice to meet you, I will take my leave now," Ushiwaka was about to turn away but Elder Iriye called to him.

"Oh wait young man! Why don't you join us for dinner and fill me in on the details, I'm sure my granddaughter here won't tell me the truth about it anyway!" she laughed.

"Obaasan he's a busy person," she tried to refute.

He remembered how his grandmother always told him she'd roll in her grave the day he disrespected an elderly person. She said that if he ever did, her ghost would pull his feet at night.

She wasn't that nice, was what Ushijima remembers from her.

"I am fine with that, thank you for having me," he bowed.

"Oh wonderful! I love meeting your friends Uta!" she walked in through the gate.

Wakatoshi followed, but Iriye grabbed his jacket for him to turn.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"I don't mind, I'm hungry anyway," he replied, not a hint of annoyance in his voice.

She let out a relieved breath, "that's good. I have to warn you though, my grandma is a witch!"

Ushijima stopped abruptly and turned to her with eyes wider than she had seen, he hated ghosts and magic things, he didn't understand it.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! She's kinda like a psychic though, she can guess everyone's favorite food without even asking!" she mused.

Ushijima thought whether or not is was similar to how Tendou makes guesses about where spikers would shoot. Is it intuition? Just pure instinct?

That was another thing that was strange to him.

The house was pretty large, Ushijima felt like he would get lost in it. They sat in an empty tatami room that he assumed they would eat in.

"What would you like to eat Wakatoshi-kun? Is it fine for me to refer to you that way?" Elder Iriye asked.

(Ushijima refers to her as Elder Iriye in his mind)

The question took him a while to even process because he hadn't been asked that in a _very_ long time. He usually only had options to choose from.

"Actually, I know what to make. You seem like a healthy young man who likes hearty meals," she stared right through his soul, he was the slightest bit intimidated by the frail, old woman. "I'll have something ready in a little. Uta why don't you show Ushijima-kun around the place!"

"Thank you for having me," Ushijima bowed his head.

"Thank you for staying! The pleasure is ours, make yourself comfortable," she smiled.

_She's just like Iriye, but old_.

"She really likes it when people come over," Iriye gave a soft sigh.

"Is it just you two?" Ushijima asked.

"Yeah, I'm an only child. My grandpa passed away a couple years ago," she explained as they both stood up.

"I see, I am sorry to hear that," he said flat as usual.

She smiled, "no need to worry. Anyway, let me show you around!"

Apparently the room they were in was not where they were going to eat, that was just a casual tatami room. There was a separate one for dining, and another smaller one for tea.

_I wonder if tea rooms are a rich people thing._ He thought this to himself. The Ushijima family had good money, he never struggled financially as did most people in Shiratorizawa, but they had _money_.

Iriye didn't brag about it though, he honestly would have never known her family had this much money if he didn't see her house. Their bathrooms were big, their kitchen was bigger, they even had a tatami room upstairs. Iriye's room was smaller, but still big.

"Here is the garden obaasan and I have worked really hard on!" Uta slid the door open to go outside. In accordance with the traditional style of their home, the garden fit just right. They even had a nice pond and a small wooden bridge leading into what was their small guest home.

_They really have it all._

"This way!" she pointed to a small gate that led even further into their garden as if it couldn't get any more grand.

But it could. And Ushijima really liked it.

There was a lot of plants and a lot of trees, and a greenhouse. Ushijima, for some odd reason, knew a lot about farming and plants, but never had the opportunity to put his knowledge to use. 

"The peaches and persimmons are in full bloom and they're super delicious, would you like one?" she offered.

Ushijima loves fruit, especially fresh fruit, he nods.

The tour of the house was over and since food wasn't ready, the two spent some more time in the garden picking the peaches and persimmons that were ready to be harvested. Ushijima ate a few while he was at it. They were delicious, if he had a volleyball with him, he'd be able to spend his whole life in that little garden.

"Diner is ready!" Elder Iriye called for the two as they finished a peach.

Just by the aroma emitting outside the door, Ushijima knew what meal this was. When he laid his eyes on the steaming hot plate of Hayashi rice, there was a surge of contentment deep in his soul. A homemade meal, he didn't know when is the last time he had it one.

_She is psychic_ , he thought.

Despite being so satisfied with the meal, Ushijima remained absolutely stoic. It would have been hard to tell what was going through his head, but both Iriyes accepted that's how he probably was. Elder Iriye never cooked a bad meal, so she didn't have to think twice whether or not he liked it.

After diner they all had a cup of tea Uta made, which Ushijima enjoyed throughly, and chat for a good while. It was mostly Uta and Elder Iriye talking to Ushijima and him nodding and saying just a few words to them.

They both told the elder what had happened earlier in the day with Uta getting involved in a fight with an upperclassman.

"I know it was reckless, I anticipated the possibility of myself getting hurt. But there was no way I was going to let someone defenseless suffer like that, even if I can't help because I'm small. At least he didn't take that hit alone," she explained.

Her words carried a heavy weight. When Wakatoshi looked to her grandmother, she seemed to be grimacing about something she remembered. The expression went away when she sighed.

"Sweet girl, I wish you had inherited your grandfather's stature instead of mine."

"Ara! It's okay obaasan! I'm okay! I can take a hit, I even took a volleyball to the face! Maybe I didn't inherit his stature but I am stronger than I look and I'm sure ojiisan would agree," she exclaimed. "But that's what happened, sorry if I worried you. I'll get started on cleaning!"

(Someone saying "ara" is like saying "oh my")

Uta was quick to change the subject when her grandmother looked sad. As she picked up plates and cups, she just talked about how delicious the food was and how the fruits that were in season were maturing beautifully.

When she left to wash the dishes, Elder Iriye gave a big sigh, "I'm sure that girl has given me more gray hairs than I need."

"I take it she does this kind of thing often?" Ushijima questioned.

"Ah, yes. Uta has always hated when people are picked on. She doesn't pick fights out of impulse, but she cares for people like herself. It worries me of course, if she could be used as a punching bag in the place of someone else, she would do it without a blink of hesitation," she shook her head.

Ushijima literally imagined her being used as a punching bag, the mental image made him shake just a little.

"I was there to see what happened. I am sorry I didn't do anything to prevent Iriye from getting injured," he apologized.

"I understand it's not always easy to act in those kinds of situations. I can't expect anyone but herself to understand the consequences of trying to fight for others. She knows them better than anyone at this point," she smiled sadly but endearingly.

Ushijima thinks about how he wouldn't know, but it must be painful to not be able to protect someone you love.

_But more than that..._

Iriye came back into the room and his gaze fell upon her cheery face, "oh don't you worry about me. I'm still alive and well."

It must feel even worse to brush aside feelings pain and disappointment so people won't know how you really feel.

But he remembered the spear of disappointment she threw at all the students watching the fight earlier. The pain on her face would surely heal, but she has to live with being the only one brave (or stupid) enough to defend people at her own risk. Or even worse, she already lives with it but is hoping something would change, and is often let down.

_Much to think about._

Before he headed back to the dorms, Elder Iriye gifted him the leftovers (she made sure to make extra) and Uta gave him a bag of peaches and persimmons.

"Come over for dinner another time!" Elder Iriye said her goodbyes. He probably wouldn't mind coming back.

Uta walked with him to the front gate, not saying anything for the short while.

He decided to ask, "are you still upset?"

She sighed, "no, I'm not upset anymore. I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"You had reason to. I'm sorry again," Ushijima bowed.

"It's alright. It already happened, nothing I can do about this now," she chuckled as she pointed to the swelling on her face.

"Then I won't cry over spilt milk," he used the phrase again.

"AHAHAHA!" she let out a hearty laugh, he didn't understand why. This was the first time he made her genuinely laugh. "You're a funny guy Ushijima-san!"

"That wasn't a joke, I'm serious."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You're a little...interesting," she smiled genuinely at him. Not that it was fake before when she did, but she smiled at different things, now she was smiling at him, because of him.

_She's very pretty._

And that would also be the first time she made him smile. The edges of his mouth curved up just a little, "thank you."

He started walking away when she called out to him like she had the first time he walked back with her.

"Ushijima-san!"

He turned.

"See ya at school!"

He waved.

He thought a lot about the encounter he just had while he was walking back. It wasn't everyday (or _any day_ ) that he was invited into someone's home for dinner. He hadn't had food or company that pleased him so much, _ever_. The last time he felt a remote sense of family was before his parents divorced.

When Ushijima Wakatoshi doesn't understand something, he thinks about it a lot. He thinks and thinks until he comes to a conclusion.

Right now he still thought about why Iriye would put herself in danger.

_'Because I'm small.'_

_'At least he didn't take it alone.'_

Her words replaying in his head like a tape recorder.

She wasn't wrong to defend him. In fact, it made her a better person than most. But he cannot say that it wasn't careless.

"Oooh Wakatoshi-kun I was starting to wonder if you got lost in campus or something!" Tendou laid in his bunk reading the weekly issue of _Shounen Jump_ as per usual.

Ushijima and Tendou were roommates, they would usually group students into dorms by what merit they were at Shiratorizawa for.

"I know my way around campus," he refuted.

"Where didya go? What's all that food?" Tendou asked too many questions as per usual.

"Out."

"Did you visit home?" he continued to ask.

It was unfortunate, but he would never be able to get these things from home, so he ignored the question.

"Do you want a peach or persimmon?" Ushijima held the bag up.

"I've never tasted persimmons, would you recommend them Waka-kun?"

Ushijima nodded, "they're freshly picked."

"If you say so," Satori grabbed one of the strange looking fruits and analyzed it for a good while.

Before going to bed, Ushijima sat at his desk and read over a few notes he had trouble with for a class.

"Man, today I wasted so much money on manga. My parents were so peeved! I don't regret it though, I'll have something to keep me busy during summer break while we're not practicing, so it didn't turn out too bad," his red headed teammate dismissed it.

"But couldn't you have used that money for something else?" Ushijima asked.

"Like what?" he popped his head over the railing of the top bunk

"Food?" Ushijima didn't take his eyes off his paper.

"I don't even eat that much!"

"But saving it for the long run would have been a smart thing to do."

"Yeah, it might have been dumb, but I'm happy with it!"

And that simple sentence, Tendou's impulsive money wasting habit is what finally made things click.

"So you know you made a bad decision but you don't regret it?" Ushijima finally turned. He wasn't judging Satori either, he was genuinely curious.

Satori found that to be sort of strange, coming from Ushijima who usually showed little interest in most topics.

"I mean, not reeeeally. I'll probably keep the manga forever and reread them and appreciate it when my collection has grown," Tendou answered.

"I see...I think I understand." Ushijima turned back again, but was stuck in thought at what both Satori and Uta said respectively about the "dumb" decisions they made.

"Dumb decisions aren't always bad decisions," Ushijima concluded out loud.

"You're not one to condone either of those," Tendou replied as he yawned.

Ushijima learned another new thing today, he was very satisfied with that.


	4. Year 1: Part 3

Iriye knew everyone, and that really wasn't an understatement.

Ushijima was surprised when he found out everyone in his team knew who she was, some knew her from middle school (he had no idea she also went to the same school as him back then), her and Ohira knew each other well because he had friends in the swimming team, Tendou didn't formally meet her until she had an interaction with her through Ushijima. They got along really well even though Iriye was the sweetest person in earth and Tendou was probably the biggest degenerate.

He noticed her more during school hours and she was always talking to different people, but he noticed she looked annoyed at times.

_Must be the repercussions of being popular._

Ushijima himself was very popular, but he didn't know it. No one approached him either, he was more the ' _woah that guy is a national athletic star, he's so scary!_ ' instead of ' _woah he is so cool I want to be his friend_ ' type of popular. Iriye was the latter.

She spoke formally to different people and he later found out that she came from a family that owned big pharmaceutical laboratories and provided most of Japan's medical supplies. It must be to maintain good relationships with families who the company was associated with.

_No wonder she's smart._

"That new chapter was so crazy, right?!" Tendou eccentrically waved his hands in the air while in the cafeteria. They were talking about Naruto. Ushijima didn't know much about it except that the main character was blonde and loud.

"I know! This fight is getting so intense!" she ate her own food.

She started talking more to the two volleyball players during lunch time. After half the school year had passed by, you might be able to say that Ushijima and Iriye had become friends, or were at least accustomed to one another.

Their routine still went on, but now Elder Iriye would invite him every so often to eat at the house and Iriye would talk to him during school hours instead of only after school.

He met an old friend of hers who was on the swimming team and ironically the two had the same personality. Stoic and serious, but Eri Hamura (was her name) was much more menacing than Ushijima. It was enough to make Tendou shut up most of the time, which was quite a feat. The four of them somehow ended up in each other's company often.

"Eri-kun I think you could learn a thing or two about kindness and friendship from Naruto if you just gave it a try!" Tendou loved to push her buttons.

"No thanks, and stop calling me that," she shook her head.

"You know Wakatoshi-kun there's this character who's just like you! He's all serious and is super about winning and being the best! Except you don't try to kill people like he does," Tendou laughed.

"You mean Sasuke?" Uta cocked her head, "Ushijima is nothing like that! I think he's more like Itachi," she wondered.

"Oooh you're right actually. Strong and silent, probably has a lot of secrets, probably is a pervert," Tendou nudged his giant friend, he didn't react to it.

Iriye sweat dropped, "I'm not sure about the last part."

"Ushijima doesn't have enough brain cells for that, all of them are too busy playing volleyball," Eri said blandly as she drank her miso soup.

Ushijima literally pictured his brain cells playing volleyball. Neurons looked like little stars, so they had arms and legs that could pass around a ball.

"That's probably true," it was one of those rare moments when Ushijima smiled just a little.

Whenever they had lunch together, things usually went that way. Tendou and Iriye did all the talking, Eri and Ushijima quietly ate, but tuned into the conversation at times.

"Oh! I have a favor to ask of you all," Iriye put her hands together and bowed her head before proceeding. "February is ending so a lot of the fruit in our garden will start to go out of season. Obaasan and I usually do it on our own, but we were a little luckier this year and have too much to go around. If you're free this weekend, my grandma has offered to pay for your assistance in picking the fruit."

"I'm free, we don't have a game this weekend luckily," Eri answered, "Iriye-san doesn't need to pay me. It's more like I'm paying her for all the food she has made me." The look on her face said Elder Iriye has also given her the gift of sustenance. "Which fruits are you picking?"

"Pomegranates, kinkan, pears, the yuzu fruit grew a bit out of season so they're ripe now, and a few berries. Our herbs are also over growing so we will be cutting those too!" she sounded excited for it.

"We don't have a match either, practice ends around noon. Maybe we can ask some other members if they want to come through. I've never seen your house before Uta-chan, it must be grand!" Tendou didn't finish his food as usual. It was no wonder he had such little stamina. Even Uta who was about a foot shorter than him could eat three times the portions he did.

 _I wonder if he can really imagine how grand it is_ , Ushijima and Eri both thought.

Ushiwaka didn't actually say anything, but it was definitely a yes if it involved him being in a garden and getting fruit, Uta knew his answer already.

"Thank you for your cooperation! I'll be asking a few more people!" she bowed to the group.

__________

"Thank you very much for coming! A few of us are already working out back!" she bowed to the few memebers of the volleyball team who came.

Most of them showed up because they wanted to see the grand home of the Iriye family. That and they were also going to get paid. Tendou, Ushijima, Ohira, and Semi has shown up to help which was good because the majority of the people who were there were too short to pick the fruit at the top of the trees.

There was a few girls from the swimming team helping along, something that surprised Ushijima was that the guy she protected from the fight that one day was here as well. He found out the student's name was Hyoga and he was an editor in the school newspaper. He was a big fan of the volleyball team.

_Guess they became friends after that._

It was harder work than anyone really thought and they all questioned how Iriye and her frail grandmother were able to do it all by themselves. Somehow they picked over a dozen large bags of fruit most season.

There were a few bags that had family names on them that they would gift later. Apparently, it was a gesture of respect and friendship to families they did business with.

_Complicated stuff._

Other bags were kind of miscellaneous, they would give them to neighbors, or sell the fruit, or a few other things. Pick up trucks would come and deliver them around the area.

Since there was a few people helping, it didn't take them so long and they were through by 3pm. Elder Iriye has prepared everyone a great big (and very delicious) lunch, everyone enjoyed it and talked a lot before going home, taking a small bag of freshly picked fruit with them. Most of them were glad to have come since they also got paid _very_ handsomely.

"Are you heading over there right now?" Eri asked Iriye.

"Yeah! I'm just gonna change and walk over," she answered, rushing up the stairs.

"Whereya heading to?" Tendou, curious as ever, asked Eri.

"Some of the bags they pick go to an orphanage close by. Uta and I usually go over just to make sure they get there okay and spend time with the kids," she explained and sighed, "I _hate_ kids."

"I love kids!" Semi interrupted, "let me come! Ohira, you too! You're good with them!"

Ohira seemed to question why he was being dragged into it, but he smiled, "it should be fun. How about you two?"

"Well I have to say for once, I agree with Eri-kun. I'm no good with kids! I doubt Ushijima here is any better," Satori crossed his arms.

"They're not bad kids, actually. I like these, they're nice," Eri shrugged, "up to you. I'm sure Uta would be thrilled to have more people."

Speaking of her, she came down the stairs after quickly changing, now wearing a long, navy blue skirt, with a lose beige shirt tucked in and white sneakers. Everyone thought she looked great, even if it was simple. She was truly a sight to behold all the time, even when she had nasty bruises in her face.

"Oh you're still here?" she asked the team.

"Hamura told us you're gonna go meet some kids! We're going with you!" Semi excitedly smiled. 

Iriye was really pleased with that, she smiled so widely and put her tiny fists in the air, "that's so great to hear! Thank you so much! Are you all coming?" She turned to Satori and Wakatoshi with great, big, expectant eyes that shot needles through them.

From that day forth, that look was known as the ' _Iriye Stare_ '. The best way someone described it was like she had a leash around your neck and you had no other choice but to agree.

So they all went.

__________

"Iriyeeee!!!" she was attacked the moment she walked through the doors of the orphanage.

"Woah! You're all too big to be attacking me, I'm gonna get knocked over! Just a few years and you'll all be taller than me!" she pet their heads endearingly.

"More like a few months," Tendou muttered, Eri hit him with her knee, "Ah! Geez, sorry."

Once the children took notice of a few tall people who were there, they just wanted to climb and climb all over them. Semi and Ohira put some of the children over their shoulders and had them fighting each other (of course making sure they didn't get too violent). Tendou was sitting in a circle with a few of them, making up random songs, starting off by putting together words and letting the children take it away. He actually looks like he's having the time of his life.

Ushijima let the kids swing on his arms (he thought it was a good work out), they managed to make him smile more than a few times. The team was surprised that their stoic teammate was able to win the hearts of children so quickly. Albeit, a few were too scared to approach him.

Iriye and Eri picked flowers with some of the children and sat with them afterwards, teaching them how to make flower crowns. Eri had no clue how to make them and was little frustrated the kids could make them better than she did.

Wakatoshi didn't spend time with children ever, but he didn't dislike them. He would get annoyed by cocky children, but he can't blame them for not knowing any better.

Watching Iriye with children, Ushijima couldn't help but think she looked like an angel. During this golden hour, her shiny gray eyes seemed to reflect all the hues of oranges, purples, and reds in the sky, like her eyes were mirrors of the sunset. She usually had her hair up, but her long, wavy hair was down and the way it framed her face made her smile look soft as the skies.

Ushijima was knocked out of his thoughts when a little girl pulled his jacket. He got on one knee to come down to her level.

"Can I have a piggyback ride?" she asked sheepishly. He nodded and got into a position for her to get on, but before she could try, about ten more children ran to him yelling "I want one too!!" and just ended up tackling him to the floor.

"Ara, ara! One at a time kids! Ushijima-san isn't a tree for you all to climb," she removed some of the children from on top of the giant.

_Strange comparison._

She knelt down to him, "are you okay? You seem a little overwhelmed with the commotion."

"I can handle it," he got into the same position to let the girl from earlier get on, "as long as they don't go crazy."

She laughed brightly, "can't promise you that they won't!"

"I'll try my best," he nodded.

Her eyes looked very gentle as her lips curled into a smile. She simply nodded and walked back to the other children she was with earlier. Ushijima would piggyback a child and run around for a little and move onto the next. He noticed his teammates taking pictures and laughing, but he didn't really mind it. Everyone was having fun, including him.

The day would eventually start to come to an end, the sun would begin to set and everyone needed to get back to their responsibilities.

"I have to get going. My parents want me to stop and pick something up from home before going back to the dorms," Eri informed Iriye.

"Tell them I said hello! Be careful on your way back, it's getting dark," she bowed to her friend. Even with people she's close to she is very formal.

"We can head back with you, all of us live in the dorms too," Semi offered. Tendou seemed very relieved when they had all decided to leave.

"How about you? Are you gonna leave?" she asked.

Iriye chuckled, "I was planning to, but some of the kids want to learn how to make kumihimo [braided cords] so I said I'd teach them."

Eri sighed, "you just can't say no to them can you?"

"I'll be fine, it won't take long. I'm just gonna go through the basics with them," she replied.

"Don't stay too late. Let me know when you start heading back and when you get home, please _remember_ this time," she pointed a reprimanding finger to Iriye.

_She seems to worry a lot about Iriye, wonder if anything had ever happened?_

"I will, I will! Don't let it get any later," she bowed.

Everyone was set on leaving until a child ran out of the door yelling "wait! Wait!" He was slightly tanned, had short, black, messy hair and big hazel eyes. He ran toward Ushijima with a volleyball in his hands, "please teach me!"

Everyone stopped and stared at Ushijima for a second.

"I'm sorry Shouta (was his name), they're gonna be leaving now," Iriye pat his head with a sad look.

The child pout his lips and lowered the ball, "dang it! I was too busy doing my homework."

Ushijima got a feeling he didn't like.

 _Pity_.

This feeling came from the fact that he saw his younger self in the child. He thought back to when he wanted to know more about volleyball, when he wanted his father to teach him all he could. Ushijima was lucky enough to have had a father to teach him, even if it was for a short time. But Shouta did not.

"Okay," he responded. He heard a few _"huh"s_ in the back from his team.

The child's eyes lit up and Ushijima felt a tint of satisfaction from it. "Yes! Yes! I just want to learn a few things, I've never played before but I've watched you on TV and in magazines! I can't believe I get to learn from you this is so cool!" he was beaming.

"Alrighty I'll see ya back at the dorms Wakatoshi-kun! Make sure Uta-chan gets home safely!" Tendou slapped his shoulder.

As they walked away, Iriye had a somewhat mortified look on her face. "Y-you live in the dorms?"

_Oh no._

Ushiwaka did not answer.

"We'll discuss this later, I'm gonna get started...over there," she pointed inside the building and walked away reluctantly.

Ushijima practiced simple passing of the ball with Shouta, explaining to him the rules and implications of the game. He explained each the positions and basic skills like blocking, receiving, setting, serving, etcetera.

He found out Shouta was 10 years old and was looking forward to go to middle school so he could be on a volleyball team, but he was nervous because he didn't have any skills other people probably did. Shouta explained he saved his allowance to buy a volleyball and has just been watching videos to learn a few things.

"What positions are most important?" Shouta asked as they passed the ball around.

"The setter and whoever is blocking," Wakatoshi answered.

"Why is that?"

"Blockers prevent their opponents from scoring, setters provide the offense for your team."

"Oooh, I see. You're the wing spiker right? So you do a lot of the offense too?"

"Yes, that is correct. But it's good to remember that spikers always need to be supported by a good setter."

"There are a lot of good setters in the prefecture huh? I hear a lot of cool things about Oikawa Toru."

That's where he struck a nerve. Ushijima caught the ball and just sighed, and stared to pass the ball again, "yes, he's very talented."

"If he would have gone to Shiratorizawa then maybe he would have set for you huh?"

"Yes."

They were quiet for a moment as they passed the ball, then Shouta asked, "are you and Iriye-san dating?"

The question caught him a little off guard, but it was nothing the child could see, "no."

"Oh," he passed the ball around and it was silent again, "I wish you were."

Ushijima caught the ball in the air and looked to him, "why is that?"

"So you can come teach me more often," he smiled.

"We don't need to be dating for that," Ushijima got back into a receiving position and motioned Shouta to do the same, throwing the ball back up to be passed around.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Are you two friends though?" he kept interrogating.

 _Are we friends?_ he thought. They walked home together, he would go over to her house, they talked at school. Is that what is meant to be someone's friend?

"Probably," was his answer. Shouta didn't ask any further, luckily.

They went on for a while longer, Ushijima taught him about proper form when receiving and also how to serve. Shouta also happened to be left handed, which Wakatoshi thought was incredible but he did not say. It was about almost two hours before Iriye was finally done. 

"I'm done!" she gave an exasperated breath, "those kids have so much energy!"

"Thank you for teaching me, Ushijima-san. Thank you for bringing him here, Iriye-san," Shouta bowed to the both of them respectively.

"Glad to see you two had fun!" she chuckled.

Before they left, Ushijima got down on a knee and motioned Shouta to come closer, he placed the volleyball on the floor and ran to him. Wakatoshi placed his heavy arm on his shoulder and gave him some encouragement, "try your hardest out there."

Shouta's eyes lit up and his mouth went agape. He immediately just attacked Ushijima in a tight hug around his neck, very much to his surprise.

"Thank you! I hope I can be a great volleyball player someday!" he released his teacher and grabbed the ball to run back inside the building.

Ushijima couldn't help smiling. It was a good day.

"Shouta is a really good kid. He's really smart too and sends me and obaasan letters! I'll probably expect one in a few days where he tells me how much he likes the fruit, he loves pomegranates," she waved to him and the rest of the children who were at the doors to say goodbye.

"You're not planning on walking me back are you?" Iriye asked.

Ushijima ignored her, and walked in the direction to where they came from towards her house.

"Wait!" she yelled.

"What?" he turned.

"Why have you been walking back with me if the dorms are so far?" her eyebrows were scrunched together.

He was hoping she wouldn't find out because he honestly didn't know the answer to that either. He just _did_ and he never once minded it.

"If I didn't want to do it, I would have stopped a long time ago," was all he could think of saying. It was true though, Wakatoshi was not the type to go out of his way to do something if he truly did not want to.

"But-" started

"Do you want me to stop?" he interjected.

She pursed her lips to think about it. "Well, no. It's not that, but-"

"Then let's go," and the conversation ended with that. She simply followed and didn't ask anything else about the matter. The walk was a little long, so they stopped at a store to buy some meat buns to eat along the way.

"Can I ask you something Ushijima-san?"

"What is it?" he just looked forward, same stoic expression.

"Forgive me if this is offensive, but I would have taken you as the person to say no to Shouta asking you to teach him. Is there any reason you said yes?"

He knew the answer to her question already, but it was a little personal. Opening up isn't anything Ushijima has ever thought about doing, but he knew Iriye was probably an honest and trustworthy person.

"You don't have to tell me, I was just curious," she smiled, "I'm satisfied enough with seeing you and Shouta having a good time."

"My father taught me as a child. He used to be a pro, so I had a good teacher. I thought maybe if I just get Shouta started, he'd be motivated to go from there," he explained.

"That's really cool! Are you and your father close?"

"Not anymore, my parents divorced a long time ago, he moved overseas after that and I haven't interacted with him much since then."

"Ah, I see. It happens," she nodded nonchalantly. He was glad she didn't say "sorry" like most people did. Whenever people said that it made him feel like they pitied him. "I'm sure he would have been proud of you teaching someone though."

Those words hit a little too close to home. They made him happy, but he didn't like to think much about how his father left. He said nothing else on the matter, and she didn't ask anything else about it.

As usual, she kept happily chatting, now talking to him about all the children in the orphanage and how much she loves them all. She spoke about them all the way until they got back to the Iriye Estate.

_There really isn't a bad bone in her body._

"Thank you Ushijima-san for going out of your way to walk me home. I've appreciated our walks together very much, I hope you have too," she bowed.

He just nodded, "I'll see you at school." He turned around and took a single step forward before being stopped.

"Wait!" she called.

He turned, she walked closer to him. Unexpectedly, she grabbed his hand and placed a kumihimo in it. It was mostly maroon with two white streaks where the tassels were.

"I've been working on this and finished it up with the kids right now. I hope you appreciate it, it has the school colors, I'm not sure which colors you like..." she rubbed her head.

He just stared at it for a moment, not knowing what to do with it. This was the first time he had ever received a present from someone as a token of appreciation, so he was confused.

"If you don't like it-"

"No," he quickly removed the doubt from her mind, "it's very nice. Thank you."

She sighed in relief, "that's good, I would have been pretty disappointed if you hated it! Let me help you with it!" She grabbed it again and wrapped it around his hand, then clipped it in place. "Good thing it fit, I was a little worried it might be too small but it's perfect!"

"Thank you for this, I'll try my best to keep it safe," he bowed.

"I'm glad we became friends Ushijima-san, thank you for everything," she gave him a sweet smile that he now knows he likes to see.

"Let me know when you go back to visit the kids. I'll be leaving now," he waved.

As he walked back to the dorm, he kept glancing at the bracelet on his hand. It made him happy, but he didn't smile about it. Only he would know that it meant so much to him.

He thought a lot about why exactly he would walk her home and how they miraculously started interacting with each other. There was never once where he felt annoyed by her presence or even regretted hitting her with the ball that day because it was what led them here.

_I guess we are friends._


	5. As Time Goes On

"It really took you a while to realize that you two were actually _friends_ ," Yamagata commented as the rest chimed into laughter.

The alumni saw Ushijima staring at the bracelet on his wrist, he still wore it after all this time. Even if they didn't speak anymore, it held a precious past that meant the world to him.

"So how is your son doing?" Tendou asked.

"My _son_?" Ushijima was shocked for a moment.

"Ushijima-san you have a _SON_?" Goshiki was shocked as well.

"No! I mean Shouta. How is _Shouta_?" Tendou corrected himself quickly before Wakatoshi became anymore confused.

 _He is still as dense as ever_ , everyone thought.

"He is not my son," he raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you basically adopt him?" Semi asked.

"I am his legal guardian," Ushijima corrected.

"That's the...same thing?" Ohira added.

Ushijima just made a confused face, so they decided not to argue on the matter. He ended up answering anyway, "he's going to Shiratorizawa."

"Oh wow, is he good at volleyball? And how old is he now, I forget?" Semi asked.

He nodded, "just turned 16 last month. He's an excellent player. He's a candidate for Japan's National youth team."

 _He talks about him like he really is his son_ , everyone pondered on the thought again.

They were quite surprised to hear that, but it must mean that he had become really good since their previous captain was not one to sugarcoat things in any way, shape, or form. He had been helping him with his training after all, it was no wonder Shouta got to the same level.

"So does he live with you in Tokyo right now?" Shirabu asked.

Ushijima nodded, "he's almost through with middle school. I told him there were good schools in Tokyo, but he insisted on Shiratorizawa, so we'll be apart for some time."

"Aww doesn't that just break your heart," Tendou leaned his head towards Ushijima dramatically.

"No. I will be seeing him every other week," he responded.

"It's funny how deciding to go with Iriye that one day led to all of this," Semi placed his elbow on the table and leaned his face into his hand, "Shouta is a great kid."

The whole team knew Shouta very well by the time they had graduated. He would go to their games often and watched them practice, sometimes doing homework while he was at the gym. Coach Washijo also made him sit on the bench to explain a few things. Ushijima visited the orphanage a few times each month when Iriye would go, always teaching Shouta something new. Most of the volleyball team followed suit and played with the kids too when they decided to make time to go. It made Iriye very happy, but more importantly, the kids.

Although Ushijima had a rough exterior, it turned out he had a soft spot for Shouta who had such a kind heart. He was quiet, but deliberate in everything he did. He wasn't impulsive like most children and would usually think things through, but also wasn't prone to mistakes and was quick to correct and criticize himself. Seeing him grow up was one of the few things that brought joy to Ushijima's life.

"He is," Ushijima smiled into the cup he was drinking from.

"So that's where you're gonna leave the story?" Shirabu seemed to be upset, "I get you two were friends but that's something we already knew."

"Wow, you're really invested in this story aren't you?" Hayato gave him a questioning look and laughed.

"Well if you really want to know we have a few good stories from our second year to tell about Wakatoshi-kun and Uta-chan!" Tendou mischievously smiled.

 _Oh no_ , Ushijima thought.

The rest of the older members smirked as well, knowing exactly which stories Tendou was talking about. Ushiwaka just sighed.

"You probably instigated something didn't you? Shirabu rolled his eyes.

"Nice going!" Goshiki gave everyone a thumbs up.

"Don't encourage them, please," the previous young setter shook his head.

"So do ya wanna hear how the story goes on or no? I have some pretty good stories since I was best friends with Miracle Boy _and_ Miss Iriye," Tendou wiggled his eyebrows.

"I would love to hear about how Ushijima-san's relationship with the beautiful Iriye-san continues!" Goshiki slammed a fist on the table, he was always so passionate about things.

 _Are they not going to ask whether I am okay with it?_ Ushijima questioned in his head, but he had no other choice but to try to sigh the problem away.

_-Meanwhile-_

A cafe was booming with people, playing soft music that was drowned out by the voices of the several people who were present. The walls and floor were from a dark wood that made the place seem a little darker with narrow windows.

"Uta!" a girl with short, black wavy hair, and big obsidian eyes called out to the girl who seemed to be lost, glancing around with a drink in her hand.

"Ah, Eri-san there you are! How are you?" Iriye excitedly rushed to where her friend was.

"Still with the formalities huh? I'm doing fine, and yourself?" the two took a seat after exchanging a quick, tight hug.

"I'm doing fine too, I've been keeping busy checking on all the labs around Japan, but I'm finally done!" Uta gave her friend two thumbs up.

"Sounds like a lot of work, have you adjusted well?" Eri asked before taking a sip of her warm coffee.

Uta made a face of disappointment that answered the question for the most part. "I'm capable of doing the job correctly, I don't have any doubt about that, but the problem is the people who don't seem to believe that."

"'Cause you're a girl?" Eri questioned, already being aware that was the reason. Being underestimated for being a female was something Uta always struggled with. Men always telling her she couldn't do things, or trying to arrange a marriage with their sons, etc. Thank the heavens her grandmother would threaten to cut ties if they spoke that way to Uta in her presence.

"Unfortunately, that's always been the reason some of them don't like me! These old business men just _hate_ women or something! I'm doing a great job, I've already gotten three new contracts and I'm the youngest person there!" Uta puffed her cheeks and angrily blew on a cup of tea.

"Well, you've always known what you were getting yourself into, no use complaining about it now," Eri answered matter-of-factly.

Uta wasn't one to be discouraged by harsh honesty, but she did hate that it was the truth. "Yes, you're right. I would have hoped that having a degree at least would make them see things slightly different. Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

"You can't expect much from men," Eri shrugged and chuckled a little.

Uta sighed as if remembering more than a few things about her past relating to _men_ , "won't say no to that."

"Speaking of men, have you talked to Ushiwaka?" she questioned bluntly. Hamura was never scared to ask curt questions, or it was just that she didn't process that people might not want to be asked such things. In that sense, Uta always thought of Ushijima when she spoke with her old friend.

"N-no. When I graduated he congratulated me and I told him I saw him win the Division 1 League. That was just about all we said to each other," this answer seemed to make her upset. Of course, anyone would be.

"Ugh," Eri put her coffee down with some force to it and slumped back on the chair she was sitting on, "he's so dense."

"There's nothing that can be done about that," Uta smiled.

"Don't even start! You're dense too! You're an airhead! You were worse than him sometimes! I can't believe you two haven't talked about it! It's been a whole _year_ and you two are just gonna _ignore_ everything that happened?!" Eri didn't let her voice be raised too much since there was people around, but her tone was still stern.

 _She's still so scary!_ Uta flinched back slightly, her mouth opened in shock just slightly.

Her and Ushijima shared most personality traits, but the only difference was Eri was sarcastic and cynical and had a temper for people who she thought were _stupid_ or _dense._ Ushijima and Iriye happened to take the crown for this tick of hers. She had never been so frustrated with two people in her life.

"I-I just don't know what to say. I would love to talk, but it's a little embarrassing. And after all..." the look of dismay crept onto her face, "he was too far from my reach. I would have just held him back."

"You doubt yourself too much sometimes," Eri sighed, finally calm, "I can't believe all of our hard work went to waste."

" _Our_? Hard work?" Uta quoted her confusingly as if to ask what she was talking about.

"Yeah, you think you and thick skull Ushiwaka were smart enough to get things to happen on your own?" Eri lazily placed her face on her hand and mixed in more sugar into her coffee.

"I-I'm sorry I don't really know what you're talking about," Iriye chuckled as she rubbed her head.

And there it was again, the angry vein popping out of Hamura's forehead at the frustration with Uta's airheadedness. " _Well then_ ," she sarcastically clapped her hands together, "why don't we take a trip down memory lane?"

 _I don't like where this is going_ , Uta shook in her chair, but listened as her friend recounted the memories once more.

Though Uta and Wakatoshi seemed to be a thing of the past, nothing would change the way their pure and honest love had blossomed during their second year. Most of it was thanks to the friends they had who saw potential for the both of them, it was because of them that they had truly formed an unbreakable bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part was mostly a recount in Ushijima's view but the next will kind of be through a few more people. Also I added Shouta as a character because I think Ushijima as an older brother would be super cute uwu


	6. Year 2: Part 1

The boy with bright red, spiky hair walked through the halls of Shiratorizawa with a small skip to his step, singing a strange song that he made up the words to.

He had the intention of spending lunch with his teammate (and friend, or at least he considered) Wakatoshi, but once he arrived to his classroom, he stopped at the entrance to analyze the sight before him.

Bright and beautiful as ever, Iriye Uta was sitting across Ushijima at his desk, chatting away and smiling as she usually did. From the angle he was at he could also see the jealous and angry faces of a few girls which made him laugh.

"Hey what are you just standing there for?" Semi suddenly appeared from behind, using his leg to kick the back of his knees.

"Shh! Semisemi, I'm doing important research!" Tendou stood up straight again and peeked through the door. Semi decided to see what he was so excited about and was also surprised to see the two sitting pleasantly in each other's company.

Semi looked to Tendou with his mouth agape, Tendou nodding as if to say ' _right? Who would have thought?_ '

And then there was a third, Eri Hamura who was in Wakatoshi's class was about to walk in, calling out "Ut-AH!" before getting yanked away from the door.

She noticed the two volleyball blokes standing there before going in, but chose to ignore them, but now she was being held tightly by her arm. Eri was glaring at Semi who let her go and explained, "look at them!"

"What about them?" she narrowed her eyes at the two questioningly.

"I mean, just look! They look happy together!" Tendou pointed.

"Uta always looks happy, Ushiwaka always looks disappointed in life," Eri stated frankly.

"W-well you're not wrong..." Semi sweat dropped, "but I think know Ushijima enough at this point to say that they have something going on, or _could_ become something."

"Alright, operation UtaWaka is a go! I have to tell everyone else, let's start a group chat!" Tendou got out his phone, but was stopped by Hamura.

"Don't meddle with people's relationships! If they're meant to happen just leave them be," she shook her head.

"Oh Eri-kun you're noooo fun! There's nothing wrong with giving these two a little push, she's your friend after all don't ya want her to be happy?" Tendou raised his eyebrows.

Right when she was about to open her mouth to protest they heard a hearty laughter coming from the classroom which had come from Iriye. They had no idea what Ushijima of all people would have said to make her laugh so hard, but they all choked on air when they feasted their eyes on the small, rare smile of Wakatoshi.

"Are you gonna say no to that?!" Tendou pointed to them.

"I still don't think it's right if we try to interfere. They might just-" Eri's disagreement was interrupted.

"Wait!" Semi pointed into the classroom and the three leaned closer to the door to hear what was going on.

"Iriye-chan~" one of the jealous girls Tendou noted earlier waltzed into their conversation all cute like. "I know you're suuuper smart do you think you can help them with something really quick?" she asked Uta as if they had been friends forever or something.

"U-umm sure, I can try my best! I'm sorry Ushijima-san, we'll talk later!" she stood up from the chair and pushed it back into the original desk to walk towards the other girls. The girl who originally asked stayed at Ushijima's desk and began to talk to him.

He didn't seem disappointed that she left, but the moment she did, he opened his notebook. "I'm reviewing this content. I'd like to be left alone," he told the girl.

The three who were watching the scene tried to withhold their laughter, but it at least confirmed to them that he enjoyed talking to Uta more than the average person.

Eri sighed, "I guess I'm in. If it'll keep those trolls away." A flame of annoyance rose in her eyes when she referred to the girls who were pretending to listen to Uta explain something and Ushijima now sat alone looking at his notebook.

"I'm making a group chat!" Tendou quickly began typing things with his phone, both Eri and Semi got a notification and checked.

**Operation UtaWaka!!!**

**Satori Tendo** : _hey guys!_ 🏐🏐🏐  
 _I ship Uta and Wakatoshi I think they'd make a great couple let's get them together! :3_

"Wow, straight to the point I see," Eri commented.

**Hayato Yamagata** : _Uta? That smart girl? The one that swims?_ 🤔

**Semi Eita** : _yeah her! We just saw them together and I think there's potential!_ 😃

**Reon Ohira** : _Wakatoshi?_  
 _Ushijima Wakatoshi with a girl like Iriye Uta?_  
 _I don't really know??_

**Eri Hamura** : _if it makes anyone feel more secure, I ship it a little too._

**Satori** : _if Eri-kun ships it, I think we might be onto something!_  
 _First we have to get them on a date or something somehow, but make it inconspicuous._

"I'm surprised you know a word as big as inconspicuous," both Eri and Eita said at the same moment, they looked at one another and laughed a little.

"I am a man of many surprises," Tendo shrugged conceitedly.

"More like a fool of many fumblings," Eri shot him down. Tendou just smirked at her remark and kept reading through the messages.

**Hayato** : _sounds kind of interesting_ 👀 _but how are we gonna get them do go on a date?_  
 _We can't just tell them to ask each other out if we don't know what exactly is going on between them?_

**Eita** : _shit, you're right._  
 _We need to observe their interactions closely._

**Eri** : _that sounds creepy, we should try to see what both of them like?_  
 _And try to set them up somehow?_

**Reon** : _Umm, I think you guys are missing something. Ushijima is kinda..._  
 _How do I put this?_  
 _There is a word for it..._

**Hayato** : an _imbecile_

**Eita** : _a bumbling idiot_

**Satori** : _a cretin_

**Eri** : _dense?_

**Reon** : _yeah! Dense is a good word._  
 _He's probably clueless about dating or anything like that._

**Satori** : _oh don't you worry about that. We'll handle that later._  
 _First we gotta find out what their idea of a perfect date is!_  
 _That is our first mission!_

**Eita/Reon/Hayato** : _yes captain!_

**Eri** : _ok, I'll handle Uta, it might take all 4 of you to figure out what Ushiwaka's opinion on dating even is._

As they finished their conversation, the bell happened to ring and it was time for all of them to go. Eri, Ushijima, and Eita were in the same classroom, so they would remain there, but Tendou would have to walk back on his own.

"Okay, we all get the plan?" Satori asked. Eri and Eita nodded and saluted him goodbye.

"Oh! Satori-san! I didn't see you today, how are you?" Uta called out to the man plotting her love life. After being friends for some time he managed to get her to refer to him on a first name basis, but she could never quite drop the "-san".

"Doing fine, I saw you and Wakatoshi-kun speaking so I didn't want to interrupt," he tried to say it in a provoking manner.

Of course, she didn't get it.

"I don't think Ushijima-san minds, I like talking to you too," she smiled.

_She is too nice. Maybe Ushijima doesn't even deserve her?_

Satori placed a hand on her head and pat her a few times, "who doesn't like talking to me?" He may have said a few conceited words, but Tendou smiled genuinely at her, happy for the work he was going to do.

He doesn't know much about the personal lives of Ushijima and Iriye, but when he sees them together he feels something dancing inside of him, it excites him. So he's going for it.

"I'm pretty sure some people don't! You're kind of a jerk!" she said those harsh, cold words with such a beautiful, cheery smile that Tendou didn't know whether he was more or less offended than I'd she would have said it with a straight face. She wasn't wrong though.

_Maybe she is not so nice?_

"Get to class, I'll see ya around," he shook his head.

"Same goes to you! Don't fall asleep in class again!" she jogged off, waving to him.

_____

At practice, Tendou took the initiative to start research as soon as possible. It didn't take long for Eri to find out what Uta's idea of a perfect date was since she was honest about anything.

At the moment, they were doing some light stretching on the floor before they would begin to play, so Satori took this as a good time to ask.

"Hey, Wakatoshi-kun," Tendou called him.

"Hm?" he acknowledged him.

"What's your idea of a perfect date?" he asked. The other three in the same year tried to inch closer without looking too suspicious.

"Perfect date, huh?" he seemed to be in deep thought about it.

_He actually has an opinion on it?!_ All four of them questioned.

"Maybe someday in mid April, when the cherry blossoms come out. The weather is nice for jogs. I would say August 13th because it's lefty's day, but that is my birthday so it is too biased," he answered confidently.

_Oh no he is absolutely helpless_.

Everyone hearing the conversation sweat dropped and face palmed in their brains a billion times. They wondered if he was even cut out for dating anyone at all.

" _No_ , not date as in day of the year. I mean date as in you _going out_ with someone?" Satori reiterated.

"Oh," he stretched forward to touch his feet and thought about the question. It took him quite some time that Tendou thought he wasn't going to answer it at all or he probably forgot about the question in the first place. "I don't think I have an opinion on that."

_He might as well have not answered._

"Really? There's no place you think is nice or no activity that interests you?" Tendou continued his search for answers.

"Volleyball interests me?" he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and yes, it is very obvious.

Satori turned to Semi, Ohira, and Yamagata as if to say _'I am losing my brain cells with him'_ but they all have him a thumbs up to keep going.

"But what if someone you like doesn't know how to play? You don't like going on walks or going out to eat or doing something _besides_ _volleyball_?" the red head pressed on.

And again, the silence. These questions must have been too much for his brain to process. Most men have an idea of the answer to this question, but Ushijima isn't like most _men_. He's a genius, and the only think a genius thinks about is...well, their own genius. To Ushijima, that is volleyball.

Dating was beyond him, but they still believed Wakatoshi deserved love and affection just like everyone else, and Iriye was capable of giving him all those things. They just hoped he was capable of doing the same for her.

"I like train rides in the afternoons, but only when they're not crowded," he answered.

"That's very specific, why is that?" Tendou and everyone else was very interested in his answer.

"The colors are nice. Train rides are relaxing," he wondered.

"That's nice, that's nice. Good choice. I myself prefer a good movie," Tendou gave his input to keep the conversation flowing between them.

"Why a movie?" he asked, actually interested. He knew when Ushijima was and wasn't really interested when he would look at Satori to ask or if he was just glancing around or looking at something else.

"Well it depends what kind of movie. If it's romance then you can sneak in hand holding or put your arm around your date or even a lil smooch. If it's horror then you can hold your partner, or they can hold you, whichever you like. And if it's anything else it's still a good time. Then after you usually go to eat and you have something to talk about since you saw the same movie," Tendou gave his spiel.

"Ah, I see. That doesn't sound bad either. I think I would prefer to be more relaxed," Wakatoshi spoke more. Just when he did, Coach Washijo blew the whistle for them to get into formation for spiking practice.

Tendou was very satisfied with the knowledge he had gained in that short amount of time.

They got into two separate lines, Tendou head to the back with Semi, Ohira, and Yamagata to inform them of the news.

"I don't know if you heard, but he likes train rides in the afternoon. Kinda weird but it's something," the red head whispered, making sure no one was looking at them.

"Hamura-san said that Uta has wanted to go to Matsushima to see the sunset, and it's easiest to get there by train it is literally the perfect matching for a first date!" Semi looked a little too excited for it, as if he was the one going on the date himself.

"Woah, talk about coincidence," Ohira nodded.

"More like _fate_ or _destiny~_ " Satori sang.

"Hey, what are you four doing? You're up for spikes," Ushijima called to them.

"Oh, whoops. Sorry about that," Hayato let out a witty laugh which made Wakatoshi raise an eyebrow to question what was going on between the four. He ignored it, luckily, and walked to the end of the line.

They sighed in relief. Although Ushijima wasn't the brightest one out there, he could easily tell if people were being dishonest.

"So do you have a plan, Satori?" Ohira asked.

"Oh yeah, just leave it to me! Miracle Boy! Sa-To-Ri!" he chanted.

"Satori!! Quit fooling around, boy!" Coach Washijo yelled and pointed to said player.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get in there sir," he waved his hand to him, "I got it aaaaall under control."

_________

Ushijima was always out after practice. Tendou always thought he just went on a jog since he would usually be sweating when he came back, but he didn't know why he would do such a thing since they just got out of practice, but he can't judge.

Tendou was on his bunk reading some manga after finishing the homework he had to do, Ushijima was a little later than usual. Sometimes he would come back about an hour later, but there were days he would be gone for _hours_. He knows that Ushijima doesn't even work out for that long, especially after practice since he believes in getting proper rest.

**Satori** : _I'm trying to get the plan going but Wakatoshi has disappeared off the face of this planet!!_

**Ohira** : _what do you mean? Don't you live in the same dorm?_

**Satori** : _well YEAH, but I don't know what he does when he ain't here!_

**Semi** : _I thought he would just go back to his room?_  
 _I mean, where else could he go?_

**Satori** : _I think he goes on jogs or something after practice. He always comes back sweating for some reason?_

**Eri** : _he's probably at Uta's house._

**Semi** : _???????????_

**Hayato** : _what_

**Ohira** : _hold up_

**Satori** : _HUH WHAT?_

**Eri** : _oh_  
 _You didn't know?_  
 _He goes over to her house for dinner pretty often and he walks her home everyday._

**Semi** : _WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS BEFORE?!?_

**Eri** : _I thought you all knew?_  
 _Or I don't know, I thought he would have mentioned it once or twice??_

**Hayato** : _this is the first I hear of it._  
 _Tendou you really didn't know?_

**Satori** : _NO I AM JUST AS SHOCKED AS YOU ARE?!!!_  
 _I always wondered why he would sometimes come back with all his homework complete and leftovers and bags of fruit??_

**Eri** : _How did you not make that connection?_

**Satori** : _Well USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI is not the person I would have expect to take any kind of step in a relationship!!!_

**Semi/Ohira/Hayato** : _true_

**Eri** : _Hmm guess you're not wrong._  
 _I was pretty shocked too when Uta told me. Apparently it started at the beginning of our first year, but she didn't mention it until we were about to go into this year._

**Ohira** : _So are they a thing already?_  
 _Should we just leave them be?_

**Eri** : _They are not, or at least to Uta they aren't. Same probably goes for Ushiwaka._  
 _She did say she enjoys it, but when I asked if they had anything romantic going on she just said no._  
 _Also her grandma loves him, so that's a plus too._

**Hayato** : _Brownie points haha_

**Semi** : _Ushijima is totally scoring all the right points and he probably has no clue._  
 _This is heartbreaking, I can't believe Ushijima is going to be in a relationship before ME!_

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Ushijima walked in through the door with the usual bag of fruits and leftovers.

**Satori** : _GUYS HE'S BACK IM GONNA MAKE IT HAPPEN BRB!!!_

"Heeeyyyy Wakatoshi-kun. Where have you been?" Tendou asked.

"Out," was usually his answer, and Tendou never asked any further, but he wanted to test how open and honest Ushijima was with his relationship to Uta.

"Out where?" he put his manga down and leaned on the rail of the top bunk.

"With Iriye," he answered, setting down all his things in their respective areas. Both of them liked to keep the dorm tidy.

"Ooooh with Iriye huh? You two seem to talk a lot recently huh?" he interrogated.

Ushijima thought for a moment, "I think so."

"Do you like her?" he flat out asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

"YOU DO?!" Tendou sat up straight on his bed.

"Yes, she's a good person. So is her grandmother," Ushijima seemed to get a little fuzzy when he said that. Tendou figured that 'like' to Wakatoshi didn't mean 'like' romantically but 'like' as a person. But it's a start.

"You go over to their house often don't you?" Satori continued to question. He was trying to get answers other than whether or not he felt a certain way about Uta.

Ushijima picked up a few things to go shower, but sat on his bed for a moment to keep talking to Satori. "Yes, her grandmother invites me to dinner. She makes very good food, and the both of them are nice."

"Yeah I got that vibe from her grandma when I went that one time. She's like one of those grandmas who is everyone's grandmas," Satori laughed as he laid back down in bed.

"She really is..." if Ushijima ever gave out a hint of remorse in his voice, then it was right now, so Tendou thought it was a good time to keep poking at his brain.

"Do you get along with your grandparents?" Tendou asked.

"I don't have anymore grandparents. I only knew my grandmother on my mother's side and she passed away a few years ago. She never really liked me," he answered honestly.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," Tendou was quite shocked. There was probably more to the story, but he wasn't quite sure Ushijima would want to say it or not. "Then meeting someone like Iriye-san must be a big difference."

"It does, it's nice," he said slightly more cheery than before. Tendou has talked with Ushijima enough at this point to tell when he was happy or sad or angry by his tone. There were very slight changes in his tone, but he knew them.

"Oh, by the way you like train rides right? Wanna go to Matsushima this weekend?" Tendou changed the subject back to the date he was setting up.

"Matsushima? The place with all the islands here in Miyagi?" Ushiwaka asked.

"Yeah! We should go, it'll be a nice trip! You should invite Uta-chan as well!" he further pushed the UtaWaka agenda.

"Okay," he answered. The good thing about Ushijima is that he often didn't say no to plans, he just went with the flow.

"Do you have her number? Text her right now and tell her!" he gave a thumbs up.

"Okay," he responded again and took out his phone. Tendou peaked from the top to his phone where he could read his phone screen. It looks like the two have exchanged messages before which is very good to see.

**Ushijima** : _Hello, I am back at my dorm._  
 _I have a question._

_Why does he talk like a robot?_ Satori made a face of disappointment.

**Iriye** : _That's nice to hear, I'm glad you got back safely!_ 👍🏼  
 _And what is it?_

**Ushijima** : _Tendou was wondering if you would like to go to Matsushima this weekend._  
 _He said we are taking a train._

**Iriye** : _Oh that's so cool! I would love to go I've always wanted to go see Matsushima!_  
 _What a coincidence, I was just talking to Eri about that today_ 🧐

_Oh I am so glad these too are dense as bricks,_ Tendou had to hide back a laugh.

**Ushijima** : _That is nice._  
 _I'll see you at school, we can talk more with Tendou about the plans._

**Iriye** : _Alright! Thank you for inviting me, see you at school_ 🙂

He closed his phone and looked up at Satori whose eyes were peaking out, "she said yes. I'm going to shower now."

He stood up and took his leave. Once he was out the door Satori raised his fists and yelled, "success!" which preceded him to telling everyone else:

**Satori** : _ALRIGHT! We got the date!_


	7. Year 2: Part 2

"Ushijima-san?" Iriye got on her toes to tap the giant's shoulder.

He swiftly turned around to see Uta smiling and waving cheerfully. She was wearing a brown checkered skirt with a loose, white v-necked shirt and a light pink cardigan and white shoes to match. She had her hair down and looked quite nice.

"Oh, good afternoon. Tendou could not make it. He is very sick, he's been throwing up," Ushijima explained why his red headed friend wasn't there.

(Or at least, that was the story. Tendou managed to imitate fake vomit and only pretended to be sick, he told Ushijima to go without him).

"Ara ara, that's unfortunate. Should we really be going without him? He seemed excited to go.." she pouted.

"He said we should take a lot of pictures and show them to him and we would go some other time," Ushijima replied.

"Aaah, okay I suppose," she sat down on a bench as the two were waiting for their train to come. It was about 5Pm and the sunset wasn't until about 6:30PM so they had a good amount of time to wait. The sun had started to go down slowly, and the colors of the sunset had slowly began to explode in the sky.

Iriye looked at Ushijima who she realized was wearing casual clothing for the first time she had seen. It was simple, he just had dark khaki pants, a black sweater and dark brown shoes that looked like they were for hiking or something of the sort and was carrying a black backpack on him.

"I've never seen you dressed like this. I have only seen you in your uniform or in gym clothing," she chuckled. "You look nice."

"Thank you. You also look nice," he said with no emotion, but Iriye was slightly little flustered by the comment.

"So have you been to Matsushima?" she tried to make conversation as usual.

"I haven't. I've heard of it though, but never seen it myself," he replied, watching the trains in the station go back and forth, his head following a few as they accelerated. She knew he was easily distracted.

"Me neither. I've always wanted to see it though," she smiled in a way that suggested there was a reason for it.

"Why is that?" he decided to ask.

"Hmmm," she kicked her feet back and forth, she was too short for her feet to touch the ground, "maybe I'll tell you when we get there."

"Alright, I will wait then," was what he said as the train arrived.

Just as Ushijima liked, there were only a few passengers with plenty of space to sit and watch the sky slowly changing colors as the sun met the end of the day. It was usually hard to tell if Ushijima was having a good time, but for some reason, Iriye had an astounding talent of reading the mood even if it were through small hints, so she knew.

"It's a really nice day for a train ride, there aren't that many people here today," Uta glanced around as she took her seat. They sat close to each other, but with a space that could fit one person in between them.

"Yeah, the sky is starting to look nice," he agreed.

It was unusually quieter between the two. There was always chatting when Uta was around, but the two were mesmerized by how beautiful the day was, they had chosen the perfect day to come.

Being on a train was relaxing for Ushijima. He felt like he was being lulled by the swooshing sound of the train against the tracks and the slow rocking of the vehicle when it would pass over small bumps. It happened a few times that he fell asleep on the way to Tokyo for training of the U-19 league. He usually woke up before he was able to get there but there was once he missed it by a few stops.

Iriye didn't get on trains very often, but she did a lot of traveling with her grandmother. The majority of the time, it was to meet with families that did business with Iriye Labs, so it was formal all the time. Going on a trip like this where she didn't have to care about how she looked, presented herself, or sit up straight for hours was a breath of fresh air for her.

It was an adventure for the both of them, and they were taking it all in.

When the train had reached their destination, it was almost a surprise how fast it felt with how distracted they were by the scenery. The port was small and slightly bustling with people buying seafood which the bay was known for.

"Do you like takoyaki?" Uta asked. Wakatoshi only nodded in response before she ran off to some stand, buying a skewer of the snack for the both of them.

"You didn't have to, I could have bought my own," Ushijima refused it at first.

" _Take_ it," she smiled, but threateningly.

 _She's scary,_ he thought.

So he took it from her hand and eagerly ate it (he was really hungry), the both thinking about how well it was cooked and how warm the freshly baked batter felt in their mouths. It was a good snack to keep them going.

They walked uphill for a good while to find the best place to watch the sunset before reaching the peak of the bayside. It was a nice spot that seemed to be secluded. There were benches around the perimeter, but only a few people were wandering around. The two decided to take their seat under a bench that was under a cherry blossom tree. The month of April was coming to an end, and the cherry blossom petals were floating around like pollen in the summer.

Iriye let out a light hearted laughter and Ushijima turned to see her struggling to get sakura petals out of her hair.

"There are so many!" she chuckled and looked at him, scooting closer on the bench then reaching up to his hair, "you have a few yourself."

He watched her eyes intently as she tried to help him remove the petals from his head. Wakatoshi couldn't help but think her sunbathed eyes looked like amber even though they were normally the color of steel. He remembered that sometimes her eyes looked like different shades of green or blue depending on what she was looking at. They were like mirrors of the earth. A beautiful scenery.

When she was done, Uta lowered her gaze and their eyes met. She hadn't realized she scoot _too_ close to him until their faces were only centimetres apart. It was certainly awkward, but their eyes were locked on each other for a brief, intimate moment.

"AH! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space!" Uta slid back away and giggled sheepishly. He couldn't tell if she was blushing because she looked pink under the sunset, but he figured she was probably flustered from the way she was covering her face with her tiny hands.

"It's fine, I don't mind," he said seriously.

Her eyes widened slightly in shock, "that's interesting. I took you as the type of person to not like people getting too close to you."

"Why is that?" he raised a brow.

"Hmm, I guess quiet and serious people in general don't have the 'I won't bite' air around them, you get me? I'm sorry if I made that assumption about you," she smiled apologetically.

"I..I wouldn't bite anyone?" Ushijima was confused.

Uta remembered he doesn't do well with common sayings and sweat dropped. "I mean that serious people tend to have a menacing aura going about them, so it makes other people feel like it's safer not to get close," she explained.

"I see. I'm sorry if I'm scary," he apologized.

"No, no!" she waved her hands and struggled to speak, "d-don't apologize that's just how you are and that's completely fine! I appreciate learning new things about you, so I'm sorry if I assume things at first, but I think you're an incredible person and you don't scare me at all!"

He found it strange that someone could actually think he was 'incredible' as she said. Ushijima knows himself better than anyone. He knows he's completely detached and that it's off-putting most of the time, but there isn't much he can do to change the way he is. The man just accepted that that's how he was, and if people didn't accept him then at least he had talent for something. _Volleyball_.

But here she was, appreciating every part of who he was, as unappealing as he might be in character.

"Thank you," he couldn't help but give her a small smile as he gazed at the horizon.

Whenever she made Wakatoshi smile, Uta's heart danced with happiness and a strange sense of pride. She knew he wasn't one to express many emotions, but the fact that he smiled every so often when they were together was a sign that he may also appreciate her company. Just the slight possibility of this made her content.

"The sun is setting now," she commented, smiling as well.

Matsushima was a brilliant view with the sun reflecting over the water and the bold, lavish colors painting each island a different shade of red or orange. The image of the fevered sky would be ingrained into their minds forever as one of the most beautiful views they had ever set their sights on.

The two didn't know it, but they were glad they got to see it with one another. Sitting together in a comfortable silence while the day was ending felt like a reset for them, free of stress or anything else. It was only them and Matsushima.

" _When the day meets its end upon the paradise of isles, I will fall in love with the eyes of the sky._  
 _When the sun is sinking and exploding soft colors into a golden sea, I will be waiting an eternity to gaze upon those mirrors once more._  
 _The trails of the sun and the waves of the ocean always knew,_  
 _That someday those eyes would bring me back to you_ ," Uta quoted a poem as her gaze was still fixated on the vast earth sea, Ushijima turned to her expecting an explanation.

"My grandfather wrote that poem for grandmother. They met here at Matsushima one day before they went to college. Upon their first and only encounter, they fell in love with each other but didn't share any information about their lives, so they could never locate one another after they met," Uta ran her hands through her hair gently as she tried to recall the story.

She continued, "my grandpa went to school overseas, and my grandma went to Osaka to study. They weren't in contact at all for those few years, but my grandfather used to say he thought about her eyes everyday, so he wrote her that poem. When they finished school, the two waited for each other at the place they met and he immediately proposed to obaasan. Funny thing is though, her parents had arranged a marriage for her but she refused it to marry ojiisan. They sort of disowned her for some time until they realized that ojiisan came from a wealthy family. The Iriye family loved obaasan because she studied to be a physician, so they accepted her just fine!"

"That's an interesting turn of events," Ushijima acknowledged to let her know he was listening. 

He thought of Elder Iriye and the few pictures of her grandfather that he has seen scattered around their house. Onoe Iriye was his name, he remembered. Wakatoshi recalled that the two seemed very happy together in older pictures of the two. Onoe was scary looking (at least that is what it seemed like in pictures). He was a tall man with short black hair and narrow brown eyes that made it seem like he was always glaring. Uta said despite him looking that way, he smiled and laughed often.

"Aaaand that's why I've always wanted to come to Matsushima!" Uta clapped, "I told you I would tell you, and I thought it would be better if you saw for yourself."

"You never came with Iriye-san?" Ushijima asked, referring to the Elder.

"I always wanted to, but I thought it would make her sad. I know she misses ojiisan a lot and every now and then I still catch her crying when she looks through old pictures or letters. She would never cry in front of me, but I think if she came here she might and I would have no idea what to do," Uta explained.

"She seems like the type of person who doesn't cry often," Ushiwaka wondered.

"Yeah, my grandparents were both such strong people. I can only..." she trailed off as the last bit of sun hid behind the ocean and then said quietly, "I can only wish to have that kind of strength."

Once again, the sat in silence as the flaming colors of the sky faded into soft, dark blues. Uta felt like she was closer to both grandparents after seeing the view they had always talked about when she was younger, it made her soul feel just a little more at peace with the passing of her grandfather even if it had been a few years.

"We should get going, it's getting dark," Ushijima turned to Uta who stood up from the bench.

"You hungry?" she stretched her arms with a pleasant smile.

"Starving, actually," he put his hands to his stomach and sighed.

"Ah, guess the takoyaki from earlier didn't quite do enough huh? Me too though, I'm really hungry myself. I saw a place selling ramen earlier that smelled really good, are you okay with that?" she asked.

Ushijima nodded at her and the two made their way back to a small joint where they luckily didn't have to wait to be seated or have their order taken. The two talked about how they really enjoyed the view and remembered that they had forgotten to take pictures to send to Tendou, so Ushijima took a picture of Iriye using her chopsticks to make horns on her head, he chuckled at this.

 **Ushijima** : _Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the sunset, here is this picture._

 **Tendou** : _It's okay Uta-chan looks cute! That's enough of a view for me!_  
 _Did you have fun on your date?_  
 _Did you guys give each other a lot of kisses??_ 😘😘😘

Ushijima read the last two messages as he was sipping on water which caused him to choke on the liquid and went into a coughing fit.

"Are you okay? What did Tendou say?" she leaned forward to try to glance at his phone.

He reacted quickly and nabbed the phone from her view, still dying through his coughs. She tilted her head with a questioning look and just shrugged saying, "weeeeirdo."

"Sorry, Tendou is just...strange," Ushijima looked at his phone again.

 **Ushijima** : _this is not a date_.

 **Tendou** : _suuuuure it isn't. I'll hear all about it when you get back!_

"Are you blushing?" Iriye brought her face closer to analyze the light pink shade she had never seen on his face before. 

_This isn't a date, there is no reason be nervous. Tendou is just being himself, it's just Iriye_ , he tried to calm himself down as he averted his gaze from her entrancing eyes. He didn't ever think that this was a date, only the two of them hanging out, but Satori's words took him by surprise.

"I am okay," Ushijima finally calmed down, feeling the temperature on his face return to normal.

Iriye just raised an eyebrow, wondering what in the world Tendou could have said that made Ushijima lose his cool like that. The only other time he flipped out that way was once they were walking home together and a bee crashed into his face. Uta recalled the way he jumped and made the closest sound to a yelp Ushijima could make out and chuckled at the memory. Wakatoshi just messed around with his chopsticks, grabbing pieces of ice from the glass of water he almost spilled.

"Hey Ushijima-san do you ever visit home?" Iriye always asked random, personal questions, but Ushijima was mostly an open book, and Uta had proven to be a trustworthy friend.

"Only when dorms close," he answered.

"Do you and your mother get along?" she continued to ask. The _Iriye Stare_ never managed to bring out the words he had stored deep, deep inside that brain.

Stoic and soulless as Ushiwaka may seem, these questions dug a little too deep into his heart. However, he was always compelled to share things about himself with people like Uta, Tendou, and even Eri when she asked blunt questions. They always seemed to bring him up whenever he felt like he was losing himself in his past.

Ushijima sat up straight as if ready to give a long spiel, "not really, actually. She has never really liked that I play volleyball since it probably reminds her of my father and she _hates_ that I'm a lefty. If you can't accept your own child for something as simple as what hand they write with...well, you won't be getting very far in your relationship with them."

He was stunned at how the words just spilled out of his mouth. Feelings that he was convinced were only petty thoughts were now expressing some of his deepest sorrows. Even with a straight face, Wakatoshi felt as if he had been hit by the whiplash of his own words.

"Is being lefty that big of a deal? I think that's a really cool thing about you, only 10% of the world is left handed, so it makes you unique!" Uta cheered.

"It is usually seen as bad manners to use your left hand for a lot of things like eating or writing, I don't really understand it too much. It has only ever been of used to me on the court, which is what matters the most to me," Ushijima raised his dominant hand with chopsticks that had a piece of ice between them.

"Yeah, probably just old tradition, honestly. Did she ever try to get you to use your right hand?" Uta now started to play with the ice in her cup as well.

For the first time, Uta saw Ushijima roll his eyes in annoyance. She was completely engrossed in every single sentiment he was expressing at the moment, surprised that he was showing any to her at all. Perhaps it was a sign that the two were close friends. Uta was thoroughly entertained, Ushijima enjoyed getting a few things off his chest.

"You have no idea. Her and my grandmother tried to pressure me into using my right hand for a long time, but my father had begged them not to. It was the only thing he asked of my mother's side of the family. After they divorced, she still tried to get me to stop using it, but.." he faltered as he put down his chopsticks and looked at his hand, imagining what it felt like to be serving or spiking the ball with all hit might.

"But?" she caught his attention by moving her head closer across the table.

He looked up to see her large, expectant eyes that resembled a child's when recounting a bedtime story. So he continued, "it was pretty hard when the only other person who accepted that tiny detail wasn't there anymore. Such a minuscule detail to make such a big fuss over, I wonder if he even thought twice about it when he-uh," Ushijima caught himself before he said too much. He hadn't realized that he was basically ranting to her about his personal life that she might not even be interested in. 

She noticed he lightly closed his fist that was on the table and slumped back on his chair, he seemed a little bummed out about the topic. But she understood what he was thinking. Divorced parents aren't easy to manage especially when you end up with the parent who likes you the least. Uta was sure that there was a deep wound in Ushijima's heart that yearned for his father's love and acceptance he didn't seem to receive from his mother.

He was shocked when he felt her small, gentle hand over his fist and looked up to see a smile as sweet as honey and eyes shining with sympathy. Then, words that reassured him, "I'm sure your father loves you very much Ushijima-san. I am confident that he thought you were strong enough to handle anything that came your way!"

Her eyes were captivating, it wasn't the usual _Iriye Stare_ and it wasn't that she was pitying him for his difficult upbringing. They were eyes that _understood_ and were sincerely trying to get her words to reach him, to convince him that he was not alone. He had no choice but to believe in her.

Ushijima gave her a smile of appreciation which she was overjoyed to see. "Thank you," he ended.

"Thank _you_ ," she pointed her chopsticks at him.

"For what?" he asked.

"For sharing that with me. I feel like I understand you more and more everyday," her eyes were closed as she grinned widely.

"How about you? Why do you only live with your grandmother?" Ushijima now interrogated.

Her smile immediately disappeared, and he got the feeling he may have asked a question she really did not want to answer. Strangely enough, this made him even more curious than before.

"W-well it's kind of a long story," she rubbed her head.

"We have time," was his response.

Iriye sighed, figuring that she couldn't back out from the question when he had just finished pouring out his soul to her about his parents. It was only fair that she answers the same questions she asked him and he gave an honest answer to.

"I lived in the Kanto Region with my parents most of my life until I was about 13. My mother, Hina Iriye, was from Miyagi while my father, Keisuke Hattori, was from Tokyo and the two met through my grandparents on both sides doing business with each other. It was sort of an arranged marriage to strengthen business ties and you know, all that stuff," she waved around her hand and rolled her eyes.

Ushijima was listening very intently, his chin resting on his entwined hands and his eyes locked on hers.

"Long story short, they got an ugly divorce. It's kind of hard to want a child you had in an unhappy marriage, so I was sort of in this weird limbo when it all went down. My grandparents really cared for me, and ojiisan had passed away before this happened, so obaasan decided to take me in instead of letting one of my parents raise me irresponsibly. I moved to Miyagi and went into Shiratorizawa Junior High about halfway through our first year, aaaand now we are here," she lifted her hands to refer to the area.

Although he would have liked to hear the details of the "long story", he accepted what she had said. Nevertheless, it was obvious she was sugarcoating the information she had given to him, there was much more to this than just a divorce. But Ushijima hoped that she might tell him when the time was right.

"I always wondered why you only lived with Iriye-san," Ushijima nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"Yeah, guess it is a little strange that I wouldn't be living with my parents," she chuckled ironically.

Just as they finished, their food had finally arrived and the two forgot how hungry they were from the deep conversation they were having. The food was delicious, and it felt even better after a long talk with good company. Once they were done, Ushijima paid for the food despite Uta's many protests to repay her for the takoyaki from earlier. After the hearty meal, they didn't waste any time in going back on the train.

The luminescent moon was now shining over the ocean just as the sun did earlier, and it was silent except for the noises made from the vehicle and the tracks. Ushijima was surprised they weren't talking much on the way back, but once he paid attention to Uta who was sitting besides him, he noticed she was asleep, her head leaning against the train window. 

Her hair was tucked behind her ear and he had never before observed that she had earrings. They were studded earrings in the shape of a daisy flower in a color that matched her light pink cardigan. He didn't know she used to wear earrings to school, but she often lost them so now she only wears them to go out which is why he never saw them before. 

On the surface of her skin, he saw she had goosebumps and guessed _'she's probably cold'_. Ushijima reached for his backpack and quietly zipped open a pocket to get a jacket he brought with him in case the weather was bad. 

_Good thing I brought this_ , he thought as he carefully placed it over her. The slight disturbance made her shuffle in her sleep and she now placed her head on his shoulder, unbeknownst to her. She would never be aware of how dazed he looked at the accidental movement or how his eyebrows were raised and his mouth was slightly agape before he was able to react.

He breathed out a quiet laugh, his lips curling into a smile, and his stoic gaze crumbling at the sight before him, "what am I gonna do with you?"


	8. Year 2: Part 3

"Uta, calm dow-" Eri was quickly cut off.

"Calm down?! Did you see what he did?! I hate how they've been looking at me, at _all_ of us! This was such a stupid idea! I was against it and I knew it was going to end up with idiots gawking at us, but _I_ am the only one getting picked on because they're scared of the rest of you!" Uta yelled in a way Eri had never seen her before.

So, context:

This week is Shiratorizawa's summer cultural festival. Every class and most clubs do something special to celebrate before their finals and summer break.

The third years in the swimming club decided to do one of the most mainstream ideas that a few of the members were against: _a maid cafe_. They picked out the outfits and everything, giving Iriye a special light pink one that made her stand out compared to everyone's black Lolita looking outfits. They loved and appreciated Uta, but also enjoyed to pick on her because she was the smallest member even compared to the first years.

And of course, boys being _boys_ decided they wanted to pick on her as well, but in a way that made her feel completely humiliated.

At first it was boys calling her cute and asking her strange questions that made her uncomfortable, then a guy tried to force her to sit at a table with him, and what made her lose it was when a third year pulled up her skirt and laughed about it even after getting kicked out. She was so fumed that she left into an empty classroom to cool off, Eri following to support her.

"Just sit down, I'll bring you some water and something to eat," Eri raised her hands defensively.

"I don't WANT TO SIT DOWN!" she lashed out.

"Stop yelling! People outside can hear you!" Eri pointed at the door.

"Well let them hear me!" she stomped towards the door and slid it open to see a crowd that had formed outside the door, "I HATE MEN! YOU'RE ALL-AH!"

Eri pulled her collar and pulled her back inside the room and poked her head out to address the students, "sorry about that, please go on with your day." She closed the door and sighed in annoyance, turning back to Uta who was still pacing back and forth with her arms crossed.

"Please sit down, Uta," Eri spoke seriously, in a demanding tone.

Uta stopped walking and stared at Eri for a moment before taking a deep breath and sitting down on a chair. Eri walked to her and spoke down to her, which was intimidating for Iriye.

"I know you're frustrated and yes, those boys are disgusting. But next time someone is picking on you, you have to tell us before they do something like that," Eri scolded. Uta has failed to mention in many instances what the guys were doing to her until they caught them in the act.

"But I can-"

" _'Handle it myself'._ Right?" Eri took the words right out of her mouth. She sat down and took one of her friend's hands. "I'm sorry to say, but you _didn't_ handle it. I know you hate to hear this Uta, but these people are much bigger and stronger than you, that's why they pick on you. They know you can't do anything to them, and _you_ know that you can't..." her voice trailed off when she saw Uta's sad eyes that already knew where the conversation led to.

Eri has said it a billion times before. These words weren't meant to hurt Uta, they were to protect her.

"You know you can't do much against them."

Uta slapped both her hands on her face and yelled loudly in them. "I know, I know. I just want to be able to do something about it myself, but no one takes someone who is smaller seriously. I don't want to trouble anyone..."

Eri sighed, not knowing what to say to make her happy again, "Take the rest of the day off, I'll tell the third years you're not coming back."

"I'll be here for a while, I don't want to go outside just yet," Uta opened the window in the classroom and rest her elbows on the edge to get fresh air.

"Do you need some company?" Eri asked.

"I'm okay, they'll be another person short if you don't got back. I'll be fine here," Uta waved, unable to smile through her irritation.

"Okay, if anyone strange comes in just jump out the window or something," Eri advised with a straight face. Uta didn't know if she was joking since they were on the third floor of their building.

"O-okay?" she replied before her raven headed friend nodded and exited the room.

As Eri left, she grabbed her phone from her pocket to message someone

** Semi Eita **

**Eri** : _hey, is the volleyball club doing anything for the festival?_

**Semi** : _nah, not for this time around we didn't plan anything soon enough._  
 _Why?_

**Eri** : _is Ushiwaka with you?_

**Semi** : _yeah I'm with him and the rest of the team, we came to check out what that new first year Shirabu is doing for his class._  
 _They're making mochi, it's super good!_ 🤤

**Eri** : _that's nice. Just wanted to know._

**Semi** : _did you need him for something?_

**Eri** : _Hmm kind of?_  
 _Uta is upset so I thought maybe he could cheer her up or something._  
 _I didn't want to tell everyone else to make a big fuss about it._

**Semi** : _what happened?_

**Eri** : _the third years wanted to do a maid cafe for the swim club, they put Uta kind of in the spotlight and a few guys harassed her_ 😕  
 _She's really upset right now, and I don't think I said anything to make her feel better_.

"No way!" Semi leaned forward in a chair while making a face that was visibly upset.

"What's wrong SemiSemi?" Tendou stuffed a whole piece of mochi in his mouth.

"The girls in the swim club, they're putting on a maid cafe and -" Semi was interrupted.

"LET'S GO!" Tendou quickly stood up with an excited look on his face.

_Pervert_ , everyone else except Ushijima, who was only paying attention to the taste of mochi, thought.

"I'm not done yet," Semi pulled him back down, "Iriye apparently got harassed by a few guys."

Ushijima took notice of the conversation and looked up from his bag to Semi with his eyebrows raised a little as if telling him to continue.

"She's upset, and Eri said she couldn't get her to feel better," he finished, trying to give Ushijima the hint that maybe he should go.

"Well we should all go and check on Uta! And support the swimming team!" Tendou really just wanted to see what Eri and Uta looked like in a cute maid dress.

Despite her scary demeanor, Eri had a pretty face and her dark hair and eyes contrasted beautifully with her porcelain skin and the very small freckles she had across her nose.

"Right now?" Ushijima asked. They all nodded, and he abruptly stood up and went to talk to Shirabu who packed him a few sakura mochi in a bag and handed them to him once he paid. He just walked back to the group and said, "okay."

"Thanks for the mochi, Shirabu! Thank you Shirabu's classmates!" the teammates waved off everyone in the classroom as they bowed in appreciation and went on their way.

Once they arrived to the classroom where they held the cafe, they could tell it was bustling mostly with _males_ who were there to check out the girls.

"Eri-kuuuun!" Tendou rushed through the door to make a grand entrance.

"Call me that and I'm dragging you out myself by your throat," Eri glared at him.

"Ah, don't you love it when she's angry?" Tendou turned to Semi.

His face became slightly red, "why are you asking me?"

"Hmm I don't know, just wanted to mess around with you, don't get all flustered! I know you think she's cute but-" Tendo was teasing him until Eita put his hand over his mouth.

"Please stop talking," Semi face palmed with the other hand.

Eri noticed Ushijima sort of averting his gaze everywhere frantically. Obviously, he was looking for Uta which is why she was hoping they would come through.

"Hey Ushiwaka," Eri walked close to him, away from the crowd of people, he leaned down a little to hear what she had to say, "Uta is in the classroom furthest down to your left."

Wakatoshi nodded and headed out the door...to the right.

"Your _OTHER_ left!" she threw a crumpled flyer at his head, he just nodded and head in the opposite direction.

Standing right in front of the door about to enter was Hyoga, the boy she tried to save from last year. He looked like he had just arrived and was about to reach for the handle until he saw Ushijima.

"Ah, Ushijima it's nice to see you," he bowed, "I hope the volleyball season is going well."

"It is," was his response as he glanced back and forth from the door to the young man.

"O-oh are you going into this room? I noticed Iriye-san was in here from outside, I saw her in the window and she seemed sad. I-I was going to check in on her was all," he shyly chuckled and backed away from the door, "are you going in with her?"

Ushijima nodded.

"I see, give her my regards," he sadly walked away, leaving Ushijima to wonder what he seemed so down about.

He ignored the thought and slid open the door to see Uta standing in front of the window with a short, pink maid dress that had lots of bows. She turned to him and he looked at her from head to toe.

"Interesting," was the only comment he made on the outfit. He walked next to her and leaned down to put his arms on the window seal, at this level he was almost as short as she was. Wakatoshi banded her a bag, "here."

She opened it and her eyes had a small sparkle of happiness when she saw the sakura mochi. He knew it was her favorite snack.

"Thank you," she closed it and placed it on a chair close to her.

She wasn't speaking as she usually was and he could tell she wasn't in her usual cheery mood. He thought bringing her a good snack might make her happier but she doesn't even seem to be in the mood to eat.

"So what's wrong?" Ushijima was finally fed up with the silence.

"Nothing," she dead panned.

He sighed, "Hamura already told us."

"Then why did you ask?" she said curtly.

"Conversation had to start somewhere," he answered.

"It could have just _not_ started."

Ushijima stood up straight and head towards the door to exit the room without saying another word.

"Wait where are you going?" her voice was more calm now.

"You seem like you need more time alone," he answered with a slight annoyance in his tone.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that after you gave me food and came here to talk with me, that was really rude of me," she bowed in apology, finally seeming to have calmed down.

"It's fine," Wakatoshi walked back to where he was into the same position.

She sighed and started the discussion, "I just hated how people were treating me. I'm just frustrated is all."

"Did they treat anyone else like that?" he questioned.

"They were staring at everyone but they were only picking on me," Uta sighed.

"What were they doing?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well at first they were saying strange comments, some guy was grabbing my arm and trying to force me to sit with him, and then some third year pulled up my skirt. After that I couldn't take it anymore," Uta turned away from the window and sat on a chair, opening the bag of mochi.

Ushijima sighed disappointingly, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

She shrugged, "it happens a lot when you're small. People tend to think you're a _tiny_ _delicate_ flower that needs protection and attention and I don't know what goes on in people's minds when they see me."

He thought back at the moment when he saw her getting hit by that punk when she was defending Hyoga. The third year easily just brushed her aside like she was a feather, of course anyone who was larger probably thought they could do the same.

What she was saying was true and he didn't have to repeat to her again that she just isn't physically strong. But what is he supposed to say to make her feel like she has a chance?

He can't lie to her and tell her to keep fighting when she really can't, and Ushijima really isn't the type of person to sugarcoat things in that manner or give anyone false hope. But he's still searching for the words to say, he doesn't like to see her sad and ashamed for something she can't help.

In the back of his mind he remembered Elder Iriye's sad eyes when she told him that Uta knew the consequences of going up against people she stood no chance with, then how the younger Iriye hid her disappointment from her grandmother so she wouldn't worry. If Elder Iriye knew what had ensued today, she might just have a heart attack.

_'At least he didn't take the hit alone'_

Those words haunted him every now and then when he thought about how Uta forgave him after he watched her take all those hits. Perhaps it was Hyoga who should have come in here to comfort her, maybe he understood her more and had the right words to say.

But there was no going back, _Wakatoshi_ was the one in there with her.

It took him some time, but he finally moved. "Let's go for a walk," he motioned his head to the door.

She shook her head, "I don't want to go."

"Are you scared?" he raised an eyebrow.

Uta stared up at him with large, concerned eyes, biting her bottom lip which was enough of an answer for him. What he did next surprised Uta, he crouched down on one knee to where he was closer to her eye level and she didn't feel quite as intimidated anymore.

"All you have to worry about is walking forward, I will handle the rest," he promised.

Her mouth was agape and suddenly tears wouldn't stop coming out of her eyes.

_Did I say the wrong thing?_ Ushijima was concerned for a moment.

However, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, the silent tears wetting the collar of his shirt. He didn't know how to react, he doesn't know when the last time it was that someone showed affection to him in this way. He was paralyzed, a face full of shock.

All she needed was someone to tell her they were there with her. Someone there so that she wouldn't have to take those hits alone.

"Thank you...so much," she whispered. She wasn't sobbing or crying hard, she only sounded grateful for his words. After a short while, she quickly separated herself from then smiled widely at Ushijima, "sorry for attacking you!"

His mind drifted off as he thought how she was truly beautiful even as she was crying, but he came back to earth when she wiped the remainder of her tears away.

"Okay then, let's go," she quickly stood up with a determined face.

"Are you...okay?" Ushijima asked, standing up as well.

"Yeah! I'm sorry you had to see my like that I don't usually cry in front of anyone, but your words were just really sweet and I was overwhelmed. I'm okay now," she nodded quickly and head towards the door.

_Her mood changes very quickly with a few good words_ , he thought.

So the two walked out together and went outside to look at all the different stands and events that were taking place outside. They avoided a big crowd of people, but once they got to where the main attractions were, Uta began to feel leers coming from all directions.

Her head dropped down and she looked at her shoes, afraid to make eye contact with anyone.

_Don't look down, don't shame yourself, now isn't the time for that!_ She denounced the negative thoughts from her mind and turned to Ushijima who was as proud looking as he always was. _You can do this, you can take it_ , she settled her anxiety. Uta inhaled and exhaled slowly before standing up straight again and putting on the same brave face.

"Ooh look at Iriye-chan," she overheard two guys talking about her.

"She looks so cute in that dress, you think I can ask her out?" the other one said.

Iriye swiftly snapped her head to both boys and glared daggers into their soul. Having bright, steely eyes gave her the leverage she needed to make a deadly cold stare that frightened the life out of the two boys.

"...maybe not," the two walked away. Once they were out of sight, Uta turned to Ushijima like a puppy that had done a trick with their eyes saying _'did you see what I did?!'_

Ushijima smirked and continued to walk forward, Uta with more confidence even started to wave and interact with people she knew. She was finally glad she didn't actually stay locked inside that classroom and missed out on enjoying all the fun activities there was to offer.

It wasn't until they got to where a group of students were dancing to loud music that Ushijima actually had to step in.

"Wow, class 3-A is having a big DJ party," Iriye stopped to look at all the students who were strutting. Ushijima wasn't really interested, but Uta was enjoying the way people were really into the moment. There was a crowd gathered around and a few people being pulled in to dance.

"Hey! Come dance with me!" a guy grabbed her arm and tried to pull her in.

She tugged her arm back and shook her head, "no thank you, I don't like dancing." Ushijima watched for a moment to give Iriye the chance to stand her ground.

"Come on just one dance!" he pulled harder and she started tripping forward.

Ushijima reacted at that moment and grabbed the guy's arm that was pulling hers. "No," was all he said with a look that would scare the God of Death himself. The guy let go and ran back to dancing like he was about to piss his pants.

_Ushijima-san is so intimidating,_ Uta laughed in her mind.

The two just walked away from the crowd and continued to roam around, Wakatoshi was glad she was acting like nothing had really happened, in fact she seemed a little happier after that. The two bought snacks and played some games for food and finally sat down on a grassy field to watch some students play games on the baseball field.

Uta and Ushijima played a game where they had to match cards to win giant rice balls which they were scarfing down while resting. It turned out Wakatoshi was really bad at remembering the order of them, but Iriye won two of them to give one to her poor friend who was very disappointed. She even won a goldfish in another game that she was very excited about.

"Ah, these rice balls are so good I'm going to have to ask someone for the recipe!" Uta lauded with a mouthful of rice.

"They are," Ushijima nodded, more than halfway through with his.

"What are your favorite kinds of rice balls?" Uta asked.

"The ones with tsukudani," he answered without having to think much about it.

"Aaah, tsukudani is really good. I'll remember that," she looked amused while nodding.

"How about yours?" he returned the question.

She lifted the giant onigiri that she had to hold with both hands to the sky as if it was a divine object from the gods, "katsuo is my holy grail!"

[Tsukudani is a mix of seafood or meat that is marinated in sauce, katsuo is dried bonito flakes which they are eating right now.]

"It's a good thing we came out then," Ushijima took a large bite, enjoying the last bits of his meal.

"Thank you for getting me to come out," she smiled at him in appreciation.

"I didn't. You made that decision on your own," he was done very quickly and laid his back against the fresh, verdant grass.

"I'll accept that then," she proceeded to take another bite. There was silence between them until she swallowed her food, "You're a good person, Ushijima-san."

"Thank you, Iriye," he closed his eyes and exhaled as he placed his arm over his head to block the bright summer sun. She noticed he was wearing the bracelet she gave him last year, he often did.

"For what?" she laughed.

"Everything."

She turned away from him so he wouldn't notice that her cheeks were blushing and she was smiling sheepishly. "You know, most people who are my friends just call me Uta."

"Hmmm, _Iriye Uta_ ," he repeated her name, then breathed out a laugh through his nose.

"What? Are you making fun of my name?" Uta punched his leg playfully.

"No, _Uta_ ," he was definitely messing with her.

"Wow, _the_ Ushijima-san making a joke? It must be my lucky day," she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Wakatoshi," he corrected, "you can drop the honorific we're in the same year and I'm only a few months older than you."

"Hmmm, Wakatoshi..." something felt off to her, "...-san."

And he was suddenly _laughing_. It was very short, more of a quiet snicker but it really happened.

"You're helpless," he said, still holding a charming smile.

_And you're just a big softie you doof_ , Uta thought as she placed her hands on her warm cheeks and couldn't stop beaming at their interaction.

The rest of the semester went on as usual after that week had ended. Morning training, classes, lunch with the group, practice, Ushijima walking Iriye home, everyone trying to find new ways to get the two on dates, studying for finals and the process repeated itself all the way until it was finally _summer break_.


	9. Year 2: Part 4

"I can't believe she got us to do this. I _hate_ coming to Tokyo," Uta sighed in annoyance. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this."

"I'm the one who agreed. I already said I don't mind," Ushijima reminded her.

"But you only said yes because you don't like to say no to elderly people, not because you wanted to," she pursed her lips, speaking like a disappointed child.

"We are already here, stop fussing over it," the stoic ended the conversation they have already had about five times.

"Let's get this over with then, I guess," she pressed the buzzer that was followed by her saying, "this is Iriye Uta, here in the place of Iriye Tamako. I have a guest with me for today's celebration."

"You may enter," a muffled voice spoke back and the gate beeped before the two entered. They looked at each other and nodded, Uta very unsure of what they were going into.

_\--- A few days earlier ---_

Ushijima was laying down on his bed, reading through the July issue of Monthly Volleyball when he heard his phone continuously vibrate. He was alone in his dorm since Tendou had gone home for the break.

" **Uta Iriye** "

"Yes," he picked up.

"Ah, good morning Wakatoshi-san. I'm sorry to bother you, are you busy?" she asked.

"Not at the moment," he replied.

"Umm..I have a favor to ask. O-or not really me, but Obaasan is asking if you wanted to come over for lunch today?" she asked, but she sounded nervous for some reason, like she was being threatened into this.

"Is everything o-"

"SHE'S PLOTTING SOMETHING! I KNOW-" Uta quickly spoke before hearing Elder Iriye cut her off.

"Uta!" their voices became slightly muffled as they argued. All he could hear was "what are you trying to do?!" and "can't I just cook you a nice meal?" and screaming of "ULTERIOR MOTIVES" before it was Elder Iriye who was speaking in the phone.

"Wakatoshi-kun this is Tamako, are you there? I am sorry for my granddaughter," she spoke gently as if she were not just arguing with Uta.

"Yes mam," he tried to speak more formally.

"You'll be able to make it to lunch won't you?" she asked as if she was expecting him to say nothing other than yes.

"It's a TRAP WAKA-AH!" he heard the phone falling to the floor.

_What is going on?_

"Do not yell in my ear!" Elder Iriye scolded and picked up the phone, "we will see you at 2PM!" and she hung up the phone. He looked at the time, it was shortly past 10AM, still lots of time to get ready.

As he got out of bed to shower, he looked at his phone and received a message from Iriye.

 **Uta** : _DON'T COME PLEASE‼️_

 **Ushijima** : _But your grandmother is expecting me._

 **Uta** : _Something WILL go wrong!_

 **Ushijma** : _What's the worst that can happen?_

 **Uta** : _..._  
_I'm not really sure, but I guarantee you it will!_ 😥

 **Ushijima** : _That's fine._  
_I will see you at 2._

 **Uta** : _PLEASE NO_ 😭😭😭  
**_*Read 10:21 AM*_**

Ushijima was not a minute late, right when the clock hit 2PM he buzzed at the main gate as if he had been waiting for the time to come for the past 10 minutes. Uta opened the gate with her eyes narrowed straight at him.

"You're not going to tell me to leave, are you?" Ushijima sighed at her look.

She muttered "I hate your diligence sometimes," under her breath, but not loud enough for him to hear. "No, of course I won't. But don't say I didn't warn you if she tries to cast an evil spell on you!"

"Very funny," he deadpanned.

"Wakatoshi-kun! I knew I could count on you to come for lunch! You want some sake?" Tamako questioned with a big fancy looking bottle in her hand.

"Obaasan we are not at drinking age yet, you know that, right?" Uta shook her head.

"Oh that's a stupid law, I know the chief of police personally. Heck, I could turn myself in and he'd come over for a drink himself!" she cackled.

"Crazy old lady..." Uta seemed to be aggravated today, like a vein was gonna burst in her head at any moment.

Of course, Uta knew her grandmother better than anyone and Ushijima knew she was probably right when she was saying something was going to happen. He figured it couldn't be anything _too_ bad. Elder Iriye is always a sweet person.

 _Unadon._ It's a plate full of steaming hot rice topped with glazed eel that looks grilled to perfection. On the side there's a small bowl with a daikon radish salad topped with scallions and a spicy looking powder.

Ushijima had never eaten it before, but he did like unagi (eel) as far as he knew. Uta looked at the meal like she wasn't trying to be super ecstatic about it, but this is her favorite meal, she only eats it on her birthday or when there's something special happening...or when her grandmother is trying to get her to do something.

"So-" Uta was about to question her motives once more, but was cut off by her grandmother clapping her hands and bowing her head.

"Thank you for the meal!" she smiled slyly.

"Thank you for the meal," Uta and Wakatoshi followed suit.

They ate in silence but there was clear tension between the younger and elder Iriye. Uta was wary of her the whole time, she could hardly enjoy the meal.

"Uta dear, will you clean up?" her grandmother asked once they finished. Uta sighed, but just began to pick up everyone's plate.

"Do you need help?" Ushijima asked.

"Oh no she's fine, let's talk for a moment!" Elder Iriye once again brought out the sake bottle and poured herself a cup.

" _Please_ don't scare him or cast a spell on him," Uta pleaded as she walked through the sliding doors to the kitchen and turned to Ushijima, "I am sorry in advance."

"You and my granddaughter are good friends right?" Tamako questioned.

He nodded.

"She gave you that kumihimo right?" she pointed to it.

"Yes, she did."

"Do you know what is important about braided cords Wakatoshi-kun?"

He shook his head, "I don't."

"I was the one who taught her how to make them. During the first lesson, I told her that she should only make them for people who are dear to her. You pour your soul into every movement, there is meaning in every thread, so it's only normal that you put all that effort in for someone that matters, right?" she smiled to Ushijima.

 _Is it really that difficult?_ Ushijima thought, _but what do I know, I guess._

"Kumihimo are safety ropes. They must be tied on both sides, there has to be a balance, do you understand?" she now looked at him dead in eye with an intimidating calmness.

He really didn't understand, though. Ushijima was terrible with analogies and metaphors. Uta always spoke in them and so did Elder Iriye and he had to put more thought than he wanted to in order to understand.

But this seemed important to her, and he might have underestimated how important this was to Uta. So he would think hard about it.

"I will try my hardest," was what he responded, and it seemed to be the right answer since she smiled at him with warm eyes.

"Oh good she hasn't tried to use her summoning circle yet!" Uta came in right as their conversation ended, she washed the dishes awfully quickly.

"I'm not a witch!" Tamako slammed her hand on the table.

"Oh yeah, _psychic_ is the right word," Uta teased.

Her grandmother rolled her eyes before taking another swig. Once she put the cup down she sighed and her expression was more serious. "I need you to go to Tokyo to visit the Hattori family for their summer celebration."

Uta choked on her words for a moment, really struggling to say what she wanted to. "H-huh?! Y-you..WHAT?"

"They informed me there has been administrative changes in the past few months and they need their shareholders to sign a few things off," Elder Iriye explained.

"And I have to go?! Why can't someone else from the actual company go?" Uta's fists were clenched on the table, Ushijima could tell she _really_ didn't want to go. He was also wondering why he had to be here for this conversation in the first place, but it would be awkward to just leave.

"The company isn't the shareholder, the Iriye family is. I don't think my health can handle a long trip and being there might just give me a heart attack, so I need you to go in my place," Tamako reached over and grabbed Uta's hand.

Uta's eyes were mortified as she looked to her grandmother in disbelief, almost as if they were asking _'how could you make me do this?',_ but after some time, she responded with a heavy heart, "okay."

"Ushijima will you accompany her to Tokyo for me? When she's there all the other families try to arrange marriages with her and I'm sure it would be unsettling. But if _you're_ there I'm sure you'll scare everyone off with that scary face of yours!" Elder Iriye now put Ushiwaka on the spotlight.

"Obaasan! That's a five hour trip you can't just ask him to do something like that! And telling someone they have a scary face is rude!" Uta raised her voice while lightly slamming her hand on the table, "I _told_ you something was going to happen!"

"Okay," Ushijima ignored Uta and gave his answer to Tamako. "When is this celebration?"

"Wai-" Uta was going to argue.

"This Saturday! The trip is long so you can get there Friday night and I will have arrangements for a nearby hotel. You can come back Sunday or whatever day you would like if you want to explore Tokyo!" Elder Iriye laughed.

Uta was glancing back and forth at the two, Ushijima had that tiny smile and her grandmother was simply laughing away. _'What did she even say to him?'_ she thought to herself as it seemed that the two had made some sort of special connection in the moments she was gone.

\-- _present_ \--

"Oh Uta-chan thank you for coming down all the way from Miyagi!" a tall, older woman with short brown hair gave Uta a tight squeeze. Uta really didn't like it.

"Ah, thank you Anise-san," she half heartedly smiled.

"And who is this handsome young man with you?" she shook his hand, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Ushijima Wakatoshi, thank you for having me," he bowed his head.

"Come right on in! There's plenty of people here this year! Be careful with all the children running around, I'll tell my husband you're here and we can make arrangements later. There's food and drinks as well, make yourselves at home!" she clapped her hands and walked into another room.

"That's my aunt. My father's sister in law, can be nice, can be annoying. Cries for everything even though she's a grown woman," Iriye sighed.

"Are you related to everyone here?" Ushijima asked as they made their way around several people and sort of just waved and bowed as they passed through.

"Oh no no, I'm pretty sure the only people I really know are Anise and my uncle Tengen, her husband," as they found their way outside, she motioned her hand for him to lean down a little and then whispered, "most of these people are business professionals and stuff. I know most of them and I dislike the majority of them."

"Ah, that's how it is," Wakatoshi mused.

Just as Tamako herself had said, there were plenty of people coming up to Uta and saying strange things about marriage or randomly talking about their sons even if no one asked. It was annoying and draining to have to pretend to care about all of the things everyone was saying.

Ushijima was aware she wasn't having a good time because he knew her well, but she was really good at putting up the _'sweet young lady who has a very rich family'_ front. They didn't ask Ushijima many questions, but there were a few people who recognized him from TV watching him playpass volleyball.

Very quickly, Uta started to get worn out by having to speak so formally, maintaining perfect posture, and the fake smiling. She _hated_ this scene, abhorred it with all her being. Most people were projecting their thoughts about her irresponsible father on her, something she already knew.

They could give her their best smile and she would still be able to see right through them and know that they underestimated her because of her father's actions. And because she was a _girl_.

To say Ushijima felt out of place was an understatement, but a part of him was glad he came because he knew Uta being there with a friend gave her just a little more peace of mind. There was nothing to be afraid of anyway, all he had to do was stand there and greet people.

But things took a very good turn when someone familiar to Uta stepped through the door. He was a relatively tall young man with black messy hair and dark blue eyes.

Her face immediately lit up and she yelled, "KEIJI!" to grab his attention.

When he turned to her, his eyes went wide and he gave her a big smile, "Uta?!"

The two quickly rushed to each other and hugged as if one of them had just returned from war.

"I didn't expect to see you here!" she beamed.

"Well quite honestly I didn't even want to be here.." he said in a quiet manner so no one would hear, "but you're the last person I expected to see here. It's been years!"

"Ah! Wakatoshi-san, this is Akaashi Keiji! He's my cousin! I haven't seen him in years in case you're wondering why I was so surprised!" she was very excited, he was glad to see it.

Akaashi looked at him with a look of admiration and shock, as if processing what he was supposed to do. "Ushiwaka, right?"

"I suppose you can call me that," Ushijima shook his hand.

Akaashi turned around as if there was supposed to be someone right behind him and he let out an exasperated sigh. "I'll be right back, I brought a friend because I thought I wouldn't know anyone here. You should meet him yourself."

"He goes to Fukurodani Academy. They have a good volleyball team right? I see him post pictures every now and then," she was swaying back and forth in place, she was _very_ happy.

"Yes. They go to nationals almost every year. They have a talented player who is one of the best hitters. His name is-"

"Bokuto-san, you do not know the people here don't get lost so easily," Keiji returned, dragging his friend by his jacket sleeve.

"Koutaro Bokuto," Ushijima finished.

Once Bokuto set his eyes on the two Miyagi natives his mouth dropped open, "USHIWAKA?!" He pointed at him in surprise. "Akaashi! It's Ushiwaka! What is he doing here?"

"I don't know, why don't you introduce yourself and ask them yourselves?" he motioned to them sarcastically.

"Hello! My name is Bokuto Koutaro! Why are you here?!" he walked closer to Wakatoshi, he was just as tall as him with that crazy spiked up hair.

 _'He looks like an owl'_ , Uta thought and laughed to herself.

"I'm here with Uta," he pointed to the smallest person present.

"Hi! I'm Keiji's cousin, Iriye Uta. It's a pleasure to meet you! Wakatoshi-san here is my guest who would have thought that you two met this way?" she laughed happily.

"Arm wrestling match!" Bokuto pointed to Ushiwaka, he glanced at Uta as if he was asking _'is it okay I teach this guy a lesson?'_ and she simply sighed.

"Take off your jacket you'll rip the seams if you try too hard," Akaashi pulled at Bokuto's jacket collar.

"Of course! You're always catching the little things Akaashi!" he snickered.

"If I don't you certainly will not," he took his seat next to Uta, the both of them sighed for what felt like the billionth time.

The two watched as Bokuto lost time and time over again. It wasn't by a big margin, Bokuto was very strong himself but Ushijima was just slightly stronger enough to be victorious every time. The two talked about volleyball a lot, or mostly Bokuto did and Ushijima would nod or say something here and there.

 _'I can't believe they're getting along'_ both Uta and Akaashi thought, they were polar opposites basically.

"So," Uta scooted closed to her cousin, "are you and Bokuto-san...you know, _dating_?"

Akaashi gave her a sly smile, "not _yet_."

"Ooooh setter-spiker relationship I love it," she squeezed his shoulder.

"Thank you for your support, it's getting there," Akaashi chuckled. "How about you and Ushijima-san?"

"Ara ara, we're just friends," her cheeks noticeably grew a a darker shade of pink.

"Hmm, sure," he rolled his eyes, "but he's kind of a weird guy isn't he? He's so serious, but I thought he looked pretty shrewd to me. Turns out he's got less going on up there than Bokuto-san."

Uta broke out into a hysterical laughter that caught Bokuto's and Ushijima's attention away from their conversation. "Sorry, sorry..." she covered her mouth and kept laughing under her breath. "Yeah, he can be a little...witless sometimes."

"Oh _you're_ one to talk about being witless," he teased her.

"I am?" she tilted her head, a face filled with visible confusion.

"Most people don't outgrow being dense. Exhibit A," he quickly pointed his thumb at Bokuto who was sitting behind him, Akaashi's chair was turned to face Uta.

"Hmm? Are you talking about me?" Bokuto placed his chin on Akaashi's shoulder with a big, bright smile.

"No, Bokuto-san it was just your imagination," he played it off very well. Uta could tell Akaashi really has Bokuto wrapped around his finger, but Akaashi admires him just as much.

"Aww okay then," he disappointingly went back to the conversation with Ushiwaka. He was very confused at Bokuto's disappointment, not catching that there was something going on between the two Fukurodani teammates.

"Anyway, I think you two seem nice together," Akaashi took a sip of tea from his cup.

Uta shyly smiled to herself and stared down at the contents in her cup, rubbing her thumbs along the ridges of the ceramic material.

 _'Oh she definitely likes him'_ Akaashi perceived the possibility, _'but maybe she isn't the problem here'._ He turned to take a quick look at Ushijima who wore his usual unreadable expression.

The four of them talked for a good while, eating and enjoying each other's company. Bokuto and Uta got along very well as two people who got overly excited over just about anything.

Uta and Wakatoshi recounted to them the story of how they met which made Bokuto and Akaashi laugh to tears. Akaashi had a few good embarassing stories about Bokuto and vice versa.

Several people came up to Iriye for business purposes, but Akaashi already knowing none of them had good intentions gave them a constant stinky eye until they noticed and left.

At some point, Ushijima noticed this and it made him smile to himself just a little bit and think _'guess I had no reason to worry after all'_ , but he didn't regret coming. In fact, him and Bokuto would keep in contact with one another after this encounter and actually became _friends_.

As the night grew upon them, both Uta and Bokuto couldn't help but play with the children at some point. The two were very good at getting them to sit still while all the adults did their thing. The two gathered the kids in a circle and were using suzu bells and a tambourine to sing children's songs to them, it was a very endearing sight.

"So," Akaashi began to speak to Ushijima as they watched their partners play with the kids. "Why did you come with Uta?"

"Tamako-san asked me to," he responded.

"Woah seriously?!" he snapped his head towards him. "That's a surprise, I never thought that Tamako-san would trust Uta with anyone."

"Why?" Wakatoshi asked without making any facial expression.

"Has she...told you about her parents?" Akaashi slowly brought up the question, not wanting to bring in any information Uta might not want someone to know.

"She told me they divorced," he answered, recalling their conversation when they went to Matsushima a few weeks ago.

"Oh so that's how she covered it up huh," Akaashi nodded his head as he sighed, "well, maybe someday you'll understand. But you two are close right?"

"I think so."

"You _think?_ Is that it?" Akaashi frowned.

"I can't speak on her behalf, maybe we are," he gave him a questioning look as if asking _'why are you looking at me like that?'_

"Okay. Well what do you think of your relationship with her?" he modified the question.

For a good moment, Ushiwaka thought about the question while watching Uta sing and dance around with the suzu bells in her hand. She's really the most beautiful thing to him, but he won't say it out loud. Her sweet smile and chattiness is something he likes to be around, but he also won't say this.

At this point, he can't imagine what his life might be without her and without Elder Iriye, they have become such important people to him and they are bonds he has never experienced before.

Of course, Ushijima was very close with the members of his team, he was practically best friends with Tendou and he didn't have to second guess that, but the relationship he had with the Iriyes respectively was different.

"She's a very precious person to me," he admitted. It may have been the first time Ushijima ever used the word "precious" to describe someone.

Akaashi was impressed someone like him could just say that, but Akaashi also didn't know how honest Ushijima could be. The only issue was Ushijima didn't _know_ what a lot of these feelings meant and he did not like to talk about it because they were confusing to him.

It is a known fact that Ushijima dislikes things that he does not understand, so he tries not to ponder too much on what this fondness meant.

"I'm glad she is, Uta is a good person. I can't be there for her, I haven't for the past four or five years, so please keep her safe. She's been through too much," Akaashi's eyes looked very sad.

"I will try my hardest," he reassured.

"That's all she needs," the black headed young man smiled and pat Ushiwaka's shoulder slowly.

Unfortunately, the bad part of the celebration finally came around.

"Uta-chan, Tengen and the other associates are ready to speak if you and Ushijima-kun want to come with me!" Anise called them out.

"Akaashi!! Come swing the bells with me!" Bokuto called out as Uta walked away, she didn't seem too happy anymore.

"We'll probably be leaving soon, it was nice meeting you Ushijima-san and I'm happy I got to see you Uta," Akaashi bowed his head.

"My pleasure," Ushijima did the same.

"I'm so glad I got to see you again Keiji, I'll make sure to keep in contact with you and Bokuto-san. Best wishes to the both of you!" she gave her cousin a tight hug and the two walked indoors.

As the two followed Anise, Wakatoshi felt a soft grip on his hand, he looked down to see that Uta was holding it.

"I'm really nervous, I'm sorry," she whispered. Ushijima didn't respond, but the small squeeze he returned was enough to comfort her. When they shortly got to the room all the business people were in, she let go, stood up as straight, and put on a brave, serious face.

The moment they walked in, it was blatantly obvious why neither Iriye wanted to come to this place.

The room fell dead silent with eyes of hostility making their way up and down every inch of Uta's body. They were trying to find some weakness, some sign of insecurity, but she showed an unbending resolve and took her seat without greeting a single one of them.

"Well let's get to business then.." Tengen began. Ushijima had never seen a single photo of Uta's father so he wondered if his brother looked anything like him.

Iriye didn't look much like him at all, so he figured he takes after her mother since she looks like a younger carbon copy of Tamako.

Ushijima was listening to the conversation, but not understanding many of the terms they were using because it's all business and money related. The things he did catch were the snarky comments they made directed towards Iriye.

They talked down to her like she didn't know a single thing, always explaining things in a simplistic manner at her. If anyone got a dollar for the amount of times she said "I already know," or "I am aware of this," or "I do not need an explanation," they would probably be as rich as the Iriye family.

After having all the paperwork done and signed off, Uta immediately wanted to zoom out of their home, but Tengen spoke to her before she could leave with everyone else.

"Why did Tamako not come here today?" he asked the question more like it was a statement.

"Her health is not well. The long trip might have affected her," Uta answered.

He nodded his head and snickered bitterly, "good to know we haven't scared her off just yet. I assumed she didn't want anything to do anything with this family after your father's incarceration since-"

 _'Incarceration?!'_ Ushijima yelled in his head.

"Don't be mistaken," Uta cut him off, "the Iriye family does not run away from _anything_." Her threatening tone sent a shiver down everyone's back and she gave Tengen an equally as sinister look that stung like a sharpened knife.

Finally, she bowed her head, "I will be taking my leave now. Thank you for having us."

After all the insulting they did to Iriye, Ushijima didn't feel like they deserved his respect, so he just sat and stared. Without another exchange of words, they were out the door and Iriye contacted someone for a ride back to where they were staying.

It was really quiet, it seemed like Uta was still withholding the same demeanor she was inside and it continued all the way until they returned to where the two were staying.

The place was very nice and expensive looking. Uta explained that they knew the owner of this hotel since the medical staff that works there are trained at their clinics. There was a common space with a table to eat and a television, to the right large bathroom, and on the left were two separate small rooms with sleeping spaces.

"AAAAAH!" Iriye finally dropped the act the moment they walked in.

Ushijima just stood there and watched her quickly scream into the palm of her hands.

"That was so infuriating! Did you see how they were talking to me?!" she looked up to Ushijima with frustration in her eyes.

"Yeah, it was rough to watch," he sympathized.

"AAAH I just felt so disrespected I hate it there!"

"I understand. It's over now though, you should get some rest," he pat her shoulder.

She glanced at her phone for the time "nah, it's only 8PM. I just want to watch a movie or something to cool down." Uta went to sit on one of the floor seats behind the table and took off the cardigan she wore on top of a beige backless dress that was under her knees. She dressed up very nicely for the party.

Ushijima moved to the spot next to her, "what are we watching?"

"Hmm they have Studio Ghibli movies, you like those right?" she asked. He nodded in response and they went down the list seeing which ones were available.

The two had watched the majority of the films by having movie nights that consisted of the volleyball team featuring Eri and Uta because they quite honestly weren't fond of other girls in the swim team besides those two.

"Oh Porco Rosso," she stopped, "have you watched it?"

"Haven't," he shook his head.

"Cool!" she immediately played it and the two just sat there watching the movie in silence.

After some time, Uta leaned forward with her arms resting on the table and Ushijima caught a glance at her exposed back. There was a scar right below her right shoulder that caught his attention.

He ignored it at first but the question kept pressing in his mind, "how did you get that scar?"

"Oh that? Just an accident when I was younger. I don't remember too much about it," she didn't take her eyes off the TV, she didn't want to make eye contact so he wouldn't know she was lying.

However, she quickly turned when she felt his fingers tracing slowly through the inflicted area. She didn't say anything because Ushijima, being the more dense one, didn't see it as a problem or how it might have startled her.

"About your father, I'm sorry to hear about it," he apologized. Not for him, but that he happened to hear about it in a way she probably did not want him to.

"You shouldn't be. He was a terrible person," Uta coldly replied.

Ushijima turned to her with his eyebrows raised like he was trying to get her to elaborate on what she meant, but she gave him a sad smile and turned her attention back to the movie.

"Thank you for coming here with me," that was her attempt to change the subject.

"It's no problem," he decided to drop it. If she wanted to tell him someday, she would. That was what he hoped after what Akaashi told him earlier.

"Are we staying in Tokyo tomorrow?" Ushijima asked.

"Did you want to?" Uta tilted her head.

Wakatoshi responded with a very small but excited smile, "yes, I know the area relatively well. There are some places I think you would like."

Uta brought her knees to her chest and placed her chin there, "alright, I'll ask them to extend our stay until Monday."

Ushijima nodded and continued to watch the movie, still with a content look in his eyes.

 _'Guess making some new memories in Tokyo won't be so bad'_ , Uta smiled to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAD TO ADD BOKUAKA!!!!


	10. Year 2: Part 5

The next semester ended just as quickly as it came. Before they knew it, the mountains of Sendai were stark with snow and everyone was bundled into their warm winter apparel.

During the holidays, right after New Years, the spring and fall semester sports teams have an annual winter retreat somewhere in the mountains of Sendai. They spend their time in a very large expensive cabin as courtesy of a successful Shiratorizawa alumni.

Some of the students were currently on a morning hike across the snowy mountains, enjoying the view of the vast, chalky white mountains.

"I can't believe we leave for nationals in a week," Shirabu sighed.

"Huh? You're not excited for it?" Tendou asked, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to make himself warmer.

"I mean..yeah, but shouldn't we be training for it now?" he raised an eyebrow.

"We've trained all break! Coach Washijo told us to take it easy so we won't be burnt out by the time the competition comes around," Semi, on Shirabu's other side explained.

"Hmm, I can't imagine Ushijima-san being okay with this. He's like a machine when it comes to volleyball I bet he's losing it right now," Shirabu pouted.

Both Semi and Tendou mischievously chuckled at each other, knowing that their future captain was more than okay with missing a little bit of practice to spend time with his _beloved._ Or so they called her.

"You might wanna take another look for yourself. I think Ushijima is having a _great_ time with Uta-chan. Wouldn't you say so Semi?" Tendou chuckles as the three watched Uta and Ushijima from behind.

"I wouldn't disagree with that statement!" Semi put his index finger and thumb at his chin with a sly smile.

 _Oh they're such instigators,_ Shirabu rolled his eyes. "I don't really know about that. He doesn't seem any different than usual."

"You'd be surprised young Shirabu! Our ace really does have a soft spot whether you believe it or not!" Tendou pointed dramatically to him.

He was unconvinced, however. Shirabu has hardly seen him show any emotion and has only seen him smile very few times. He didn't see how there was any way Ushijima could possibly have feelings for anyone in that manner.

"Not buying it," Shirabu rolled his eyes again.

"Man you really are such a brat, do we gotta prove it to ya?" Tendou challenged.

"Oh go _right_ on ahead," their younger teammate challenged.

Semi and Tendou talked for a moment to figure out how they would actually go about showing Shirabu their future captain was noting but a big, sweet boy. It wasn't only with Uta, Ushijima may appear as stoic and tactless at times, but he is very supportive of those who are close to him.

"Heeeey Wakatoshi-kun! Uta-chan!" Satori jogged a little to catch up with the two and slapped his hand over the man's shoulder.

"Hello," Ushiwaka nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hello Satori-san!" Uta responded brightly as ever.

"It's really cold isn't it?" Tendou rubbed his arms. He made the mistake of only wearing a long sleeve and a sweatshirt over, thinking it wouldn't be _too_ cold since it was sunny. The cold climate of Miyagi was always unforgiving.

"You should have brought another jacket or something warmer," Ushijima noted.

"I'm freezing too! I thought the sun being out today meant it would be a little warmer but I was wrong," Uta stuck out her tongue and slapped her forehead for her forgetfulness. Her and Tendou were on the same boat.

Ushijima, who was standing between them stopped walking and sighed. "You two should know better than to think it wouldn't be cold in the snow," he scolded as he removed a warm jacket and his scarf and handed them to Tendou and Uta respectively.

(The jacket would be way too big for Uta to wear.)

He continued walking and the two just gasped at the items they received. Tendou expected for Ushijima to only offer something to Uta, but it was a big surprise to him. He turned back to Semi and Shirabu who were also quite shocked at what just took place.

"That's cool dude, you really don't have to I won't freeze to death or anything!" Satori tried to hand the jacket back to Ushijima.

"You cannot get sick when we are only a week from nationals," he stated flatly.

 _So_ ** _that's_** _why he gave it to me,_ a sweat dropped from Tendou's head as he thought.

"You can't be getting sick either," Uta handed the scarf back to him.

The aforementioned _soft spot_ was at last revealed when Ushijima grabbed his scarf and this time wrapped it around Uta instead, "don't worry about me," he ended it with a rare smile.

"No _way._ I don't believe this," Shirabu's mouth almost dropped to the floor.

Semi nodded proudly, "they've been at it since last year. We've gotten them to go on a few dates already!"

"Who exactly is _we?"_ Shirabu raised an eyebrow.

"All the second years! We have a chat for all our plots and Eri Hamura is there too, even she supports it!" he took out his phone to show them the exchange messaged.

"I can't believe you guys," Shirabu rolled his eyes for the billionth time, but curiosity got the best of him, "...add me I have some ideas."

"YES!" Semi shot a fist in the air.

_Semi Eita added Shirabu Kenjiro to_ **_Operation UtaWaka!!_ **

Tendou, who was looking at his phone turned to the two and gave them a thumbs up.

"Now where should I start?" Shirabu gave a devious smile.

 _What have I created?_ Semi watched him in fear.

__________

"Hey, I gotta get some firewood for tonight. Can you help me with it?" Eri walked up to Ushiwaka who was in a conversation he did not want to be in that included some of the girls from the swim team.

(They're big flirts and Ushijima doesn't really know how to get them off his case.)

"Yes," he quickly walked away from the crowd, giving a small sigh of relief.

"You're really blunt with most people but you're terrible at saying no to girls aren't ya?" Eri snickered.

"My mother always told me to be respectful to elderly people and to women," he answered.

"Ah," she nodded. She only remembers him mentioning his mother once in the few times they've had a long conversation.

Along the way downhill to the small shop that sold wood and a few other camping items, the two didn't speak much. It was usually that way between them. All that was heard was the light crushing of the snow against their feet.

On the way back, however, Eri thought it might be a good opportunity to interrogate Ushijima on a few things.

"So when are ya gonna tell Uta that ya like her?" she asked right off the bat.

He furrowed his eyebrows together, his face saying _'how do_ ** _you_** _know that?'_

She was humored by his reaction and snickered, "it's probably not obvious to people who don't know you but we all know it at this point. Well, everyone except Uta I think."

Ushijima simply sighed in response, his face didn't show it but he was simply too flustered to reply at the moment.

"Ya know, I'm glad you didn't deny it. I thought I'd have to yell at you for it. Guess you're not as dense as I thought," she stopped walking. Ushijima did as well and turned to her.

"Dense?" he questioned.

"I just thought you were the kind of person to not understand the feeling of _liking_ someone even if it was obvious to everyone else you did. I thought only volleyball lived up there," she pointed at his head.

"Well, even _I_ can be attentive to the things I feel," Ushijima refuted, he even sounded the slightest bit offended by her words.

"Oh? Like what?" she urged him to continue talking.

Ushijima struggled with his words, he was trying to be so painfully honest with her, but his words were just flailing in the air. "I...I know that there's something...I just don't-...I'm not sure..."

It was disheartening to watch someone like Ushijima lose it over trying to express himself. Someone who was always unperturbed and immovable as a mountain, slowly turning into malleable clay.

"I thought so. It doesn't matter if you know you like her, ya got no idea what to do with yourself because you're too scared!" she let out a humorless laugh.

His brows crinkled together and his eyes were blazing. She definitely hit a nerve, but she wasn't going to stop just there.

"I know I'm right. You _don't_ understand what your feelings are and you really don't want to find out because you don't want to get hurt!" she stomped her foot and leaned forward as if her statement was a challenge.

"I don't want to talk about this," Wakatoshi turned away and began to walk, but she ran into his field of vision to stop him.

"So you're just gonna run away then? Before your little feelings get hurt? Have you considered what Uta might feel about you? What if she cares about you?" at this point Eri was yelling.

"It's not like I asked her to."

"You can't just say stuff like that and then go and be all...I don't know _close_ to her! You're practically begging for her to fall in love with-"

"Stop," Ushijima warned in a deep tone.

That was the word that set him off.

_Love._

However, Eri was far from over with drilling straight through his conscience. "What? You don't like that word? Is it _soooo_ wrong to love someone?"

"Eri, _stop_ it." He never called her by her first name, this was crossing the line even for her, but she still persisted.

"If you keep this up, you're just gonna stay like a big giant brick the rest of your life and end up all alone. You can't run from people who care about you forever you do know that, right?!"

Ushijima was silent for a moment. The conversation was something he _needed_ to have with someone because he didn't understand what it meant, but that didn't mean he liked it.

It wasn't often when he was angry, Ushijima was not temperamental at all, but at that moment it is probably the word he would use to describe what he's feeling.

The two could feel the tension in that question, Ushijima wasn't going to answer it and if Eri was waiting for him to say the words she wanted him to say, they would stand there all day and freeze.

After what seemed like a staring contest between the two, Eri just sighed. "I _know,_ Wakatoshi. I _know_ what you're feeling and I know that you care so much for her, but you're trying to find excuses not to."

"How would you-"

"Because _I_ go through this! Why do you think I'm having this conversation with you and not any of your friends? Because _I_ do know that the both of us are scared that someone will abandon us just like our parents!" the truth finally came out.

Stacks of firewood hit the mushy ground and Ushijima was simply agape that she had the audacity to say that. Not only about herself, but about him too.

Ushijima took a moment to reflect on the devastation he felt when his father left, the rejection he felt from his mother. His eyes were a clear indication of the deep scars still in his heart. Scars she just reopened after years of patching up.

"Don't throw out a whole bundle of roses if only one of them pricked your finger," Eri gave him some wisdom as she handed her bundles of wood to Ushijima and picked up the ones he dropped.

They didn't speak a word to each other the rest of the way back. Ushijima wasn't angry with Hamura, he knew she was being strict with him for his own good, and for Uta's which he appreciated.

Before opening the door to enter into the cabin, Ushijima finally spoke:

"Next year. After both our seasons are over," he announced as if she knew what he was saying.

"Huh?"

"That's when I'll tell her."

Eri smirked, "that gives you enough time to figure yourself out."

__________

Ushiwaka didn't know how much he liked Castella until that night. Uta prepared a few pieces of the dessert for everyone on the trip using her grandmother's recipe that she had apparently mastered.

Just this time, it was everyone yelling and scolding Ushijima for doing something _wrong_ for once.

He lost count of how many pieces he ate after he finished a whole loaf of it alone. There were originally 5 and everyone just assumed there was 4, Wakatoshi never told a soul, yet he still was reprimanded for eating half of the other cakes.

"It's too good," Ushijima gave a flat answer when Shirabu and Tendou ratted him out.

"I didn't get to try it!" some guy from the baseball team sighed.

"Aaah me neither it smelled so good too!" now a girl from water polo slapped a hand to her face.

"I am sorry," Wakatoshi apologized.

"Everyone sounded like they were enjoying it I was so excited to get a piece!"

"I didn't think it would be gone so quick.

"I am sorry," Ushijima repeated.

"Do ya just swallow it all or something?!"

"Come on man, there's like 40 of use here!"

"...I am sorry," he bowed his head.

As punishment, unfortunately, they made Ushijima clean the entire kitchen alone after dinner. A few people offered to help, but he refused because he felt genuinely guilty from eating everyone's dessert. He certainly did not regret it though.

Once he was through most people were in their rooms ready for bed, but as he was heading up, he saw Uta standing on the large balcony staring up as the snow slowly danced in the sky.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. It was a New Years gift he had gotten for Uta when he went to Tokyo for the U-19 training camp. They happened to catch his attention one of the days he went out, remembering that she had only worn earrings the day they went to Matsushima. She looked nice in them.

 _'This is stupid'_ he thought to himself, wondering why he got them in the first place. He didn't even know if she would like them, but there was no going back now.

Ushijima opened the door to enter the balcony which prompted Uta to turn around and check for who it was. He noticed she was holding something in her hands.

"This is the first time it snows while we're here," she turned back to the sky. It was almost pitch black except for the white specs gently falling to the ground.

He stood next to her without saying a word and also looked up, his fingers tapping the box in his pocket.

"What did you do for New Year?" Uta questioned.

"I was home. My mother went out to visit family so I didn't do anything in particular," he answered, "did you spend yours with Iriye-san?"

"Oh..no Obaasan has been in the hospital since our finals week," Uta lowered her head, "we would usually spend it together but I didn't do anything this year."

"Ah, is she doing okay?"

"Better, I'm not sure when we will be back though," Uta sighed. She wanted to stay in for the holidays, but her grandmother had urged her to go on the trip instead.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to celebrate," Ushijima looked down at her.

"I'm sorry you didn't either," she shot back a smile.

Silence took over their conversation. Whenever it was quiet between them it wasn't strange or uncomfortable even though Uta usually didn't stop talking, but it felt a little strange this time. Ushijima anxiously tapped at the box, Uta squishing the material in her hands.

"Before you go to nationals, if you have some time, we can have soba noodles and osechi and I can make more castella if you like!" Uta cheerfully suggested, "it won't be the actual New Years, but it'll be our substitute!"

"That sounds nice," Ushijima turned to her and finally just handed her the box.

Uta looked at it and back to him, then she extended both her arms up towards him to give him what seemed to be a nicely folded scarf.

"I made this," she stated.

"I..bought this," he responded, holding his arm out further for her to take it.

The two exchanged gifts and just looked at them for a moment. Uta was overjoyed that she received a gift, she really likes them and she loves to give them even more. Opening the box, her eyes lit up bright as the dazzling moon and she made some kind of high pitched noise.

"These are so beautiful!" she took them out and put them on immediately. The earrings were short golden chains with green leaves trailing along the length. She shook her head around and they dangled around as she laughed like a child. "How do I look?"

Ushijima smiled which was enough of a compliment, "don't wear them now you'll get frostbite."

"Ah, you're right. Also I didn't know whether or not to give that to you now because you already had a scarf so I thought it might be useless," Uta shrugged.

"Two is better than one," he extended the dark grey scarf and wrapped it around himself, snuggling his face into the thick threads. It was very good wool and it smelled like Sakura mochi, of course it did. "Thank you, I like it very much."

Without warning, Uta jumped up and attacked Ushijima with her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. The last time she had hugged him was when she cried during the festival and he didn't know how to react then.

Uta didn't expect anything in return from Ushijima ever. She understood his absence when it came to emotions and she accepted it and was compassionate without asking anything from him.

People are not all the same. Some like hugs and kisses and words of affirmation, Uta liked these things, but didn't need them from anyone. Other people only needed someone _there_. Attentive, decisive, and reliable, these were traits that were much more important and Ushijima was all of them, so she didn't need anything else.

Nevertheless, when she felt his arms slowly, mostly awkwardly, wrap around her, she was absolutely delighted that he was indeed capable of such affection.

He held her so delicately, like she was a precious piece of porcelain that would shatter into billions of pieces if he hugged her too tightly. And...well, he quite honestly could snap her back if he tried.

"Here's to another year!" she grinned ear to ear when he set her down.

"I hope you will overlook my flaws," he bowed, "Happy New Year."

She laughed and made a declaration, "I don't care what flaws you have!"

To Uta, it was something simple. She accepted Ushijima for all that he was and cherished all his characteristic; good or bad. Even so, despite its simplicity for her, those words meant a lot for Ushijima who was struggling to make sense of the battle in his mind.

"I appreciate that," he thanked her with a genuine smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parent divorce is kind of a rough subject. I feel like even if you never see it in Ushijima, he struggles with coming to terms with it the same way a lot of us do. 
> 
> Also thank you for reading if you have made it this far, I hope I am doing a decent job with this story!


	11. Year 2: Part 6

What started out as a terrible accident, turned out to be one of the most endearing moments for Ushijima and Uta.

But that really didn't take away from the fact that it was a really bad accident.

It was spring break, right before their third and final year would begin. Since school was closed the two would go on runs at night during the weekends. Ushijima was initially very surprised that Uta could keep up with him, but it makes sense that someone who swims everyday and is small can be so nimble.

She was really _really_ fast though and she had the stamina to run for a long time as well.

"You excited for all your captain duties?" Uta asked through staggered breathing. She even talked a lot while they ran.

"I wouldn't say it's exciting, but it's not like I'm dreading it either," he answered. They stopped for a light to turn green.

"That's good, I think Eri is going to have a loooot of fun scaring all the girls on our team!" Uta let out a laugh with her hand on her hips.

Ushijima pictured Eri as some kind of demon lord in his head punishing her subjects for messing up. She is very scary.

"I see."

They continued running and they were passing through a downhill road Uta would complain had not been fixed in years. For how much she complained about it, you might figure she would be a little more careful about running through there. But there's no blaming her for getting distracted when someone called out to her.

"Uta-senpaaaai!" two first years called out across the street.

"Huh?" Uta snapped her head in their direction, losing focus of the treacherous path before her. And this small distraction was her biggest mistake.

The next moment, the momentum of their running had carried her flying through the air. It seemed to happen very slowly to Uta, she saw Wakatoshi reach out to her with a strained face she had never seen before, but he only managed to graze her arm. Then, very quickly her body slammed against the floor and she rolled downhill for what seemed like an eternity.

Things went dark for a moment once she stopped rolling, and the next there was pain everywhere and she was looking into the eyes of a very concerned Ushijima Wakatoshi.

"Uta!" he was talking a little louder than normal. "Don't you know better than to yell at someone when they're running?! Downhill!" Ushijima scolded the two girls who were quite terrified of his yelling.

' _He has such nice eyes',_ she was in daze from hitting her head a little too many times.

"Thank you, are you fine?"

 _'Did I say that out loud?'_ she wondered, her thoughts were muddled, she felt like there was no controlling the way her head was swaying around.

He noticed her strange movements, so he grabbed her face to keep her still, "keep still you might have a concussion."

 _'Concussion? Is that why my head hurts?'_ everything was fuzzy and blurring into a mirage of big colored spots.

"Oh man, Hamura-senpai is going to _kill_ us. Our swimming careers are over she's going to reach down my throat and rip my intestines out!" one of the girls worried as they eyed Uta who was bleeding in all sorts of places.

"Not only did we injure one of the best swimmers but Uta-senpai is her _best_ friend we are _dead!"_ the other girl placed her hands to her face and shook her head.

To Uta, it kind of just sounded like someone talking through a phone with bad signal.

"I'll call an ambulance-" Ushijima took out his phone, but Uta interjected once she could think. Maybe not properly.

"I...I just...I just want to go home...sleep," she fuddled around with her words.

"You're bleeding. Something could be broken, but you're injured nonetheless," he argued.

"I'll get it checked..tomorrow?" her statement sounded more like she was asking whether or not she used the correct words. She attempted to sit up properly but was only groaning in pain.

"Don't try to get up so quickly. How do you feel? Are you doing fine?" he held her shoulders to keep her sitting upright.

"This brings back memories doesn't it?" Uta painfully chuckled remembering when she was hit with a volleyball.

Ushijima just sighed, "let's get you home."

"We're so sorry Uta-senpai," the two girls bowed their heads while shedding some tears.

"It's fine, just umm," she closed her eyes when she felt a sharp pain in her head. _'I am exerting too much brain power'_ she thought before she continued, "let's keep this between us, do not tell uugh, satan. I will...umm probably be better before school starts again."

 _'I think she meant to say Eri,'_ the two girls would have probably died of laughter if they weren't in their current predicament.

The way she was struggling to make a complete sentence made Ushijima noticeably wince, she was worse than when he hit her. He stood up and grabbed her arm to help her up, but quickly sat her back down when she yelped in pain.

"Where are you hurt?" he kneeled down and looked at her head to toe, she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt so her cuts and already swelling bruises were visible under a street light.

Her eyes were wide, not with pain, but at the grave realization that her injuries were a little more serious than she thought.

"Hey," Ushijima waved his hand close to her face, she was broken out of her thoughts, "I need you to speak if you can. I'm going to have to take you to the hospital if you have some kind of concussion,"

"I'm okay," she shook her head. The pain coming from her left knee was enough to bring her back to her senses, "my knee hurts is all, I'm not sure I can walk on it right now."

He nodded his head and removed his jacket, placing it over her shoulders and then crouched into a piggy back position. "Help her up, I will take her home," he instructed the two girls who were too scared to speak to the both of them.

The girls put Uta's arms around their shoulders and supported her onto Ushijima's back. When her knee bent over his arm, she tightly grabbed his shirt and flinched in pain.

 _'Oh no this is bad,'_ she bit her lower lip, thinking of all the bad things a knee injury could mean for her.

"I'm sorry, there isn't much we can do about the pain," Ushijima apologized.

"Don't worry don't worry, I'm sorry to inconvenience you with this," she placed her head on his shoulder.

"WE ARE SORRY!" the two girls interjected, bowing their heads up and down continuously.

"Be careful next time you see someone out on a run. I'll see you when we return from break!" Uta waved to the two as Ushijima began to walk uphill towards her house, "...I hope."

"Are you doing okay?" Wakatoshi asked, concern in his tone.

"I'd be lying if I said I was okay. I'm in pain everywhere," she admitted.

"I am sorry I didn't reach you on time," he sounded genuinely guilty about it which made Uta feel very sad.

"Don't apologize! It's not your fault! I got distracted, I should have known better that to look away when running down that hill," Uta sat up a little straighter, her hands holding onto his broad shoulders.

"I'm glad you're not dead," he stated seriously.

She broke out into a boisterous laughter that rung in his ears from behind. "Come on Wakatoshi-san there's no way that would kill me! It's not like I fell off a cliff!"

"...you never know," he was a bit embarrassed that she laughed at his statement when he was very serious about it.

To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around his neck and put her head back on his shoulder, "thank you for being glad about that. I am also glad I didn't die!"

He didn't say a word, but he smiled, and it was plastered onto his face for a while. Uta only gazed at his perfect face without him noticing, she loved his smile to no end. Whenever she managed to make him smile or he happened to smile at her, she couldn't help but completely swoon over him. He's _really_ beautiful.

"You're very warm," she noticed.

"Thank you, your arms are cold."

"Maybe it's because I'm bleeding to death!" Uta giggled.

Ushijima quickly stopped, nearly tripping on his own feet in shock. "Where is there a hospital?!"

"I'm joking! It's a _joke!_ I swear I'm fine!" she shook his shoulders.

He sighed in relief, "that is good to know."

"Also I'm sorry your clothes are probably getting really dirty. People are gonna think you murdered someone!"

"That...is a terrible mental image," he grimaced.

They were silent on the way back, and that was mostly because Uta still couldn't think too well. At this point she deducted that she might have a minor concussion, but nothing too bad. The pain on her knee was quite literally unbearable, but she didn't want to make Ushijima stop for her and she didn't feel like getting checked up at the hospital late at night.

"Hmm, it seems obaasan isn't back from her appointment yet," Uta noticed all the lights from her home were off.

"Is she doing okay?" Ushijima asked as he tried his best to slide the front doors open without moving her too much.

"Yeah, she just has to get checked up every now and then," Uta responded. Her health had been declining as of recently, but she didn't want to tell him that.

"That is good." She felt a twinge in her heart for lying to him then seeing that small, innocent smile on his face, genuinely glad that he believed she was going fine.

 _'She'll be okay,'_ she attemoted to convince herself.

He brought her up to her room and placed her on her bed, she texted the Elder Iriye to let her know what had happened since she was not present.

"I can stay here until she gets back," Ushijima offered, "I wouldn't want you to have an accident or anything."

"No! It's okay! I'll be fine!" she waved her hands, "do you think you can just hand me that box over there?"

He nodded and did as asked. It was a small basket box that had first aid supplies inside. "I'll bring you some towels," he began to walk out the door.

"It's fine, please don't inconvenience yourself you already brought me all the way back here."

He turned with a look of annoyance on his face, his lips in a frown and eyebrows furrowed.

_'He's so cute.'_

"I'm not going anywhere. Not while you're hurt," Wakatoshi didn't let her say anything before he went to go do as he said.

His statement gave her butterflies and she could feel the warmth slowing dancing in her stomach. _'Just a big, sweet guy,'_ she smiled to herself.

"Here they are," he took the chair from her desk and pulled it over to her bedside. He had wet them with warm water which felt very soothing against her aching wounds.

He simply sat there, watching her every move, continuously asking "are you okay?" whenever she winced at the pain. It was mostly just stinging pain from rubbing alcohol and just a few cuts that were deep, but nothing serious until she got to her damned knee.

"Okay," she took a sharp breath, even Ushijima seemed to be bracing himself.

Uta had a bandage in her hand and began to warp it around, but very quickly regretted it when she felt a pain so strong her palms burned and she began to sweat.

 _'No, no, no, this is so bad,'_ she put the bandage down in defeat.

Ushijima scoot closer and picked up the bandage, "I'll help you with this. You might want to grab something."

"Can we just leave it alone?" Uta frowned.

"No, it's bad to leave injuries like this unattended to," he answered, placing his fingers gently under her knee, had it not been for the pain, Uta might have felt more flustered than she was terrified. "I'm just going to do it, if I stop it'll hurt more. I'll try to make it quick."

Uta grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly, anticipating the excruciating pain she would feel. Ushijima could only see her worried eyes and she nodded.

"Okay, I'm sorry in advance." The moment he began, she flinched and but the pillow, letting out a muffled wail in pain. Her grip on the object was like a vice, Ushijima thought she might even rip through the fabric. He wanted to stop because just crying out in pain, but he knew it was better he just finished.

When he was finished, she let her back fall against the bed while she covered her face with her hands, grunting in pain.

Just then, Ushijima did something she wasn't quite expecting. He placed his hand over one of hers and slowly removed it from her face.

She turned to him with curious eyes and he just nodded, "making sure you're not crying."

Uta day back up, "oh man I wanted to. I don't know if I've ever experienced that much physical pain in my life."

Ushijima wanted to comment something like "it's a bad injury" but she already knew that. She can't walk and the pain seemed almost unbearable to her.

"Hopefully I'll be better when school starts. It can't be that bad I'm sure," she stared at the bandage like she was trying to burn it with laser vision.

"I hope so too," he agreed.

The two chatted idly about random things. They talked about how their second year was pretty good and how their season for sports went. Shiratorizawa had placed top eight that year in the Spring tournament and the swimming team had placed a whopping third in the nation. Both Uta and Eri and their captain had a special article in a magazine for their performance compared to the nation. He had no idea she was so good.

"Swimming is so much fun and it's so relaxing! To fight against the force of the water when you're racing is just such an exhilarating feeling, it's like something is holding me back, but pushing forward is the best," she tried her best to explain what she was feeling and then she laughed, "but I do hate pruny fingers!"

"They are strange," he acknowledged, "do you plan on swimming after high school?"

"Hmm, probably. You're not the only one who has been to fancy training camps! I might be able to sneak my way into the upper divisions if I perform well this year!" she seemed excited about it. He never realized how passionate she was about the sport.

"So why do you love volleyball Wakatoshi-san?"

Ushijima felt a great many things about the sport. It was one of the few things he was extremely passionate about, he couldn't ever picture himself doing anything other except that. However, he couldn't really put into words _why_ he loved the sport.

"I just do," he answered, hoping it was good enough.

Uta gave him the _'come on, you can do better than that,'_ look which she gave him quite often when she was trying to get him to be more expressive. It always made him think more.

"I'm good at it?" he shrugged.

"But before you were good at it, like when you were as young as Shouta, you know?"

He had to think for a while longer. The only memories he recalled was playing with his father. They played so often, during any season, just about everyday, even indoors when his mother wasn't there. Often times when he did play, he remembers some words from his father like not moving in a specific way or holding your ground correctly.

"It was fun for me when I played with my father. I think it grew on me eventually," he answered.

"You really liked playing with him didn't you?" she smiled sympathetically.

The stoic nods, "it was nice to just toss around the ball and talk. I think that's why I like teaching Shouta."

If Uta heard a hint of sadness in his voice, she didn't point it out, but she simply imagined what it must be like to have a parent that you are truly close to just...leave.

She's sure Takashi Utsui has his reasons, and she's sure that he watches Wakatoshi during all his tournaments. There is no way he doesn't love his son, but when Ushijima speaks about him, she can hear that he is heartbroken.

"You miss him don't you?" she never failed to ask direct questions, but he was thankful for it. Every time they had a good talk he realizes just how many thoughts he has bottled up, and talking about them helps him understand.

Ushijima nodded like a sad child with his lips pursed to the side, his head slowly tilting down to look at his hands, remembering what it was like to play volleyball with him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts and looked up when he felt a soft hand caressing his face. His eyes met with Uta's and he could feel the warmth of a billion suns as he gaped at her smile that was sweeter than honey.

 _'I wonder..'_ she thought as her thumb gently rubbed against his smooth skin, _'your soul is so powerful, but your eyes are so lonely at times.'_

He reached up and grabbed her hand when she started to pull away. _'It's so small'_ he noted in his head as he observed how his whole hand fit around hers like he was grabbing a tennis ball.

The two extended their fingers, their warm palms still in contact, clammy sensation on their fingertips, no words spoken.

Uta's fingers barely reached halfway through his, and she smiled at how astonishingly large his hands were, or how small hers were. Ushijima shifted his fingers and entwined his hand with hers, squeezing rather tightly like he was scared she was going somewhere.

Their eyes met and they were trapped in that moment of time. Their quick heart beat reverberating in their heads, warm blood circulating throughout their bodies. They were completely vulnerable to one another.

It was Ushijima who moved first. He leaned forward from his chair, not releasing her soft hand. She could feel her whole body getting warmer with every centimeter he came closer.

She closed her eyes when he stroked the side of her head. She didn't know what exactly to expect, but there was suddenly a pair of lips kissing her forehead, the moment of bliss lasting for a good few seconds before he lowered his head. Their noses and foreheads were barely touching and Uta could see his eyes were closed, but he was smiling.

_'I wonder if he's thinking about anything?'_

And then suddenly, the moment was interrupted by Elder Iriye calling out for Uta as she entered the house. They quickly separated from each other, both of them visibly disappointed.

"I-I'm in my room!" she responded, trying to get her thoughts straight as she waltzed in the door.

"Aya aya Uta, how did this happen?!" she she motioned her hands to all of Uta.

"I tripped and fell on that ugly road," she answered. Something about her tone was slightly annoyed.

"You look terrible, we'll go get you checked out first thing tomorrow! And Wakatoshi-kun, thank you for bringing her and staying with her. I'll be downstairs if ya need me!" and on that note, she exited the room, leaving Uta and Wakatoshi without any words. They were too nervous to even make eye contact at all.

"I will be leaving then," Ushijima broke the silence, but Uta didn't want him to leave when there was some tension between them.

"Wait a minute," he raised a brow when she motioned him to lean closer again, but he gladly complied.

"Ah!" he exclaimed when she quickly wrapped her arms around her neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. She let out a sweet laughter, he could feel her nose and her warm breath against his cheek.

He couldn't help but let his lips curl up with a smile and let out a "hm" as a small laugh, hugging her in return.

Truthfully, neither of them wanted to let go, but they did eventually.

Ushijima removed the bracelet on his wrist and wrapped it around hers, "you hold onto this for now. Let me know how you're doing. Try not to move so much," Ushijima advised her.

"I will, don't worry about me Wakatoshi-san!" she saluted, "I'll be just fine!"

He nodded and stared for just a moment as if there was something he wanted to say, but he walked out the door and made is way downstairs to see that Elder Iriye was sitting at the dining table drinking tea.

"Ah, Wakatoshi-kun can you sit for a moment?" she asked as she poured him a cup of tea and slid it over the table.

He sat on the other side, taking a sip of the tea. _'It's pomegranate tea,'_ he liked the taste.

"Thank you for always caring for Uta," she smiled at her cup, "you love my granddaughter don't you?"

Ushijima's eyebrows rose, he didn't really have the answer to that question. Does he love her? He knows that he _likes_ her, but was love too strong of a word to use?

In a matter of seconds, he recalled so many memories with Uta that they shared for almost the past two years.

How they met with him hitting her with a volleyball, all the times he's come over to eat and study, all the times they went to visit Shouta and the other children, Matsushima, the winter trip, the one time Uta got angry with him and didn't talk to him for days. That was devastating for him, and he just now realized why.

His lips parted as he thought, _'oh, guess this is what it feels like?'_

"Sorry for the spoiler, I thought you already knew this!" she laughed at his expression.

He didn't really know how to respond, she's Uta's grandmother after all, it's a bit of an awkward subject to talk about.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do with that. If you ever want to confess I'm sure Uta would be overjoyed, but if you two simply remained friends, I don't think either of you would complain either."

"I will tell her eventually," Ushijima responded, remembering what he had told Eri. He already planned to, and slowly his feelings were becoming more clear to him.

"Ah, that's good to hear! I appreciate all that you do for my daughter, all that I cannot do," she bowed her head to him.

"I should be thanking you for accepting me, and for raising Uta."

"If you ever choose not to be with her, I would want you to know that I am proud of you Wakatoshi-kun. You work hard, and you're a good person. A fair warning though," she cleared her throat, and her face was suddenly sad, "loving my granddaughter comes with a heavy burden."

What did that mean? Uta was a wonderful person, she was sweet and funny and smart, what burden could this be?

Ushijima gave her a questioning look in response.

"Well, it's up to her whether or not you'll ever know what that is! But just...try your hardest to make her happy, Uta will always give you her 100% and then more!" she gave him a wide grin.

"I will," he nodded.

__________

Ushijima hadn't heard back from her for about three days now, every minute passing made him more anxious.

He had never felt anxious before, but he had to look online because he thought the churning in his stomach was some kind of sickness at first.

The day after the incident, he shot her a message asking if she had gotten checked up or if she was doing fine, but she hadn't even seen, much less answered. It was very unlike her.

He thought of visiting, but then his anxiety grew even more when he wondered if it was because he had overstepped his boundaries with his affection. Ushijima had hardly ever felt insecure before, but this was one moment where he pondered whether he was good enough.

As it turns out, it wasn't him. It was much worse.

He received a call just as he was overthinking his decision.

**"** ** Eri Hamura ** **"**

_'That's strange'_ he thought, she usually didn't call him for anything.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Umm hi Wakatoshi, has Uta contacted you?"

"No, not since the day of the accident," Ushijima was the one who told her about the event, he really got an earful from her.

"Ah I figured. I just got off the phone with Iriye-san. I think we should go visit her."

"Why? Is everything okay?"

"Umm no, actually. Uta fractured her knee really bad, she got surgery the day after it happened," she sighed.

"She'll be better though, right? She just needs to recover is all," Ushijima felt uneasy.

"Well, yeah..eventually. But she can't swim this season, her last year," Eri broke it down for him. "She's devastated apparently, Iriye-san said she hasn't eaten much the past few days."

The two quickly rushed to the Iriye residence after hearing the news. Elder Iriye was hopeful that a visit from her two favorite people would make her feel better or they would at least get her to eat.

Upon entering, the two couldn't help but being saddened by the sight. She was sitting in bed, her stitched knee placed above a pillow and some pain killers were at her bedside.

Uta couldn't help tearing up when she saw Eri's dismay. "I'm sorry captain," she wiped her eyes, "my journey with you was short lived...I'm so sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest I made her a swimmer because I USED TO SWIM AND PLAY WATER POLO and I broke my kneecap and shoulder in a car accident which ended my career there, I was going to swim in college but my dreams were shattered!!! I'm in college studying for Earth Science now which I am still passionate about, everything is okay!


	12. It's Not Always What it Seems

"Ara ara, I never knew you were all trying so hard to get us to go on dates!" Uta giggled.

Eri narrowed her eyes and growled at her, "even Wakatoshi found out about it. He even asked for our help!"

"Hahaha! Guess I didn't know the volleyball boys enough to realize there was something going on. You're pretty good at hiding secrets so I would never have known!"

"You were literally there one time when it accidentally spilled out that we had a chat and you weren't even paying _attention!"_

Her face went blank and she smiled like she still didn't understand what was happening, "oh, is that so?"

"Yes Uta, it is so."

The two ordered some more tea and sat down to continue talking. Bringing back old memories from high school was bittersweet for Uta.

They were so precious to her, and she still often thought of them. Thinking about Ushijima still have her butterflies and gave her the warm feeling inside she always had. However, when she thinks about how it ended between them - or, in a sense, how it sort of never _happened_ between them - the memories she treasured at some point now seem kind of...bleak.

During college she had tried to go out on a few dates with other people, but it was just not the same. There were very good people out there. People who were sweeter and more attentive than the stoic, yet she couldn't bring herself to feel the same.

"You know, you should really try talking to him again," Eri notices the uneasy look on Uta's face.

"Aaah! I blew it the last time he called to congratulate me for graduating! He probably thinks I don't want to speak with him."

"Really? How did that go?" she asks, raising an eyebrow while gracefully sipping the hot tea.

"So, he called me and I was wondering if I should even pick up, but I did of course, so it went something like this:

 _'Uta, I saw your graduation pictures. Congratulations, I know you worked hard'_ (she made a deep voice to imitate Ushijima).

_'Oh. Thank you. I saw the V.1 League...congratulations on winning.'_

_'You saw me play?'_ and he even sounded excited when I said that! I should have gotten the message! But anyway, my stupid head continued:

_'Yeah.'_

_'Thank you, I appreciate that.'_

_'Mhm.'_

_'...I hope you're doing well, are you coming back to Japan?'_

_'I don't know yet.'_

_'Ah. I see, let me know if you do.'_

_' Yeah. Goodbye.'_

_'O-oh, bye. It was nice talking to you.'_

HE SOUNDED SO DISAPPOINTED I SHOULDN'T HAVE JUST SAID BYE I'M SO STUPID!" she concluded the conversation by yelling into her hands.

"Oh man. That's terrible coming from you, you sound even more tactless than he did!" Eri laughed crudely.

"I know, I know...I thought of saying sorry but I just can't bring myself to say anything to him!" she slammed the table.

"Imagine how he feels after that conversation.." Hamura snickered.

" _He_ is the one who rejected _me!"_ Uta pointed out the window then to herself.

"I know you were really heartbroken about it, but I think you two should talk about it. I'm sure he knows he made a mistake, or had his reasons," Eri tried to convince her.

Uta pursed her lips to the side and simply stirred the sugar in her tea. Eri, much like Ushijima, doesn't lie and doesn't say anything to get people's hopes up, so she had to be right. Even Uta, deep down, knows that there was a reason he didn't express his real feelings to her.

"So anyway, how is swimming going?" Uta changed the subject.

"Fine. Runner up for first division," she clicked her tongue. Eri was always very competitive when it came to swimming. Shiratorizawa had an excellent division of sports, Eri and Ushijima happened to be some of the best in the school and even in the nation. Apparently the two had seen each other at the 2016 olympics in Rio.

Uta sighed, "must be wonderful to still be able to swim. I wonder if I would be doing the same? Would I have been able to go to a foreign team? Hmmm?" She had her thumb and index finger on her chin, eyes closed in thought.

"I think you would have been able to. Scouts really expressed their disappointment when they saw you in that brace," Eri shook her head.

"Ah, remember that article they wrote about me?! Who even gave them permission? As if I hadn't been devastated enough and they really had to go put it in that stupid monthly swimming magazine that my CAREER WAS OVER," people around the two in the cafe turned to look at them, she bowed and silently muttered "sumimasen..."

"Yeah that was really annoying. But you graduated just fine even though college was pretty rough for you."

"Going overseas for college was probably the worst decision of my life," Uta rolled her eyes, "I really didn't think it through. But I also don't regret it."

"Well, you didn't think a lot of things through your third year. I'm surprised you still came out top of the class anyway."

"Bleh, _third year,"_ Uta shook at the mention of those words.

Eri gave her a crooked smile, "you really had it rough. Can't believe your whole life was _literally_ falling apart!"

"Oh man, you can say that again."

"I can't believe-"

"No, not literally say it."

"Just emphasizing. Hey remember that one day..." the two continued the topic of their third year as Uta began to wonder:

_'Wakatoshi-san I wonder how you're doing?'_

__________

"YOU WERE THAT CLOSE AND YOU DIDN'T GO FOR IT?!" Semi yelled to Wakatoshi.

Ushijima just stared at him.

"BRO, what is wrong with you?! You had a girl, smart and pretty as Uta and you just...didn't do it?" Hayato now slapped his face.

"Now, now. I'm sure he has his reasons," Ohira tried to calm them down.

"We tried so hard...so hard...and you still didn't do it," Shirabu seemed to have a vein popping out of his head, intimidating glare as usual.

"Hey, hey there's still third year don't worry the story goes on!" Tendou now declared.

"But...third year was sort of depressing for Iriye..." all of their excited expressions seemed to disappear.

"Oh...that's right. But it wasn't all bad was it, Wakatoshi?" Hayato tried to seem a little more cheery.

He was right, it started off terribly for Uta, but it was much better as the year progressed and he was there for her through it all. Their final year was also particularly rough for Ushijima as well for many reasons, some of those involved Uta.

"There were some good times, yes," Ushijima answered, not mentioning anything about the few bad apples.

"Well that's good! Tell us about those!" Tendou slapped his shoulder.

"Why?"

"You've just told us the fundamental details of your relationship with Iriye-san and you won't spare us the most important ones!" Shirabu fumed. He was still so hot headed and intimidating.

Everyone sitting at that table knew that Ushijima and Iriye's relationship had actually developed during their third year, despite the bumps along the way. Mostly due to each of them having their respective personal issues blow up in their faces at a really bad time.

Despite this, the two stuck close by and supported each other best as they could.

"I don't have to give any more details."

"Please Ushijima-san! I want to know of your endeavors with love so I can learn from them!" Goshiki declared. Even after years of them having graduated the flames of Goshiki's competitiveness have not been put out.

"Don't be a sour sport! _All_ of us here want to know what happened!"

"Oh yeah, what ever happened with her parents?" Ohira asked.

"Ah," Ushijima made a distasteful expression, barely. "I don't think that's something anyone can handle."

"Is it really that bad?"

"...I couldn't handle it," the former captain swirled around the water in his cup as he recalled the horrifying details of her past. You'd never expect it from someone like Uta.

"Well that makes me wanna know even more!" Tendou snickered.

Ushijima thought back for a moment about all the events that ensued during his third year, it was a crazy, crazy ride. Emotional, to say the least.

Before that year, Ushijima hadn't remembered the last time he cried for something, or someone. But his third year...he cried plenty to last him the rest of his lifetime.

Someone who was tougher than a piece of granite, as immovable as the tallest mountain of Sendai, was picked apart for so many things. They weren't small problems to say the least.

He sighed, these idiots really had him talking for hours. But Ushijima was the real fool for listening to them, as per usual. It might not have been expected, but Ushijima was enjoying looking back at old memories, though they did make him regret ruining the relationship he had with Uta.

It couldn't hurt anyway, they were having a good time listening to him talk, so he didn't really want to be the one to rain on their parade.

"Well, it's the last year anyway. Guess I'll tell you," he took a sip of water, "as you know, it started off bad for just about all of us who knew the Iriyes.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had planned to only make this 20 chapters but I might have neglected some character development, maybe I'll make it just a little longer? I am not sure...  
> I hope people are enjoying so far! AND YES USHIJIMA WILL BE CRYING


	13. Year 3: Part 1

It was an absolutely normal day.

Almost monotonously normal.

"Uta, do you need me to call the driver?" Tamako asked, watching her granddaughter finish preparing her lunch.

"No, I'm trying to get used to walking more now that I'm not on crutches!"

"It's a long walk dear, are you sure you won't get tired? That brace does not look easy to walk in..."

"It's fine Obaasan! I'm mostly used to it from walking around the house. It's just a little stiff, but it's not a big deal," Uta smiled reassuringly. It actually still hurts at times, but she doesn't want to have to rely on someone taking her and bringing her back from school. She figured she'll get used to it eventually.

That's not the only reason, however. Ever since someone started bringing her back and she could no longer stay for swim practice, her and Ushijima could no longer walk together. For the first time since her first year - counting out the few circumstances where they simply couldn't - Uta would walk home alone.

It wasn't only that. Being a captain of a powerhouse team wasn't any easy duty. He was sometimes busy during lunches and weekends, so they didn't always have the time to talk. Uta was proud of him regardless, but she would be lying if she said the feeling of them slowly drifting apart didn't make her sad.

She wondered if Ushijima felt the same, but shook the thought away, _'that's far too selfish of me to think.'_

"Are you still upset about swimming?" her grandmother broke her out of her thoughts.

"I think I'm always going to be upset about that. A tiny accident ruined everything. Now I have to decide what else I wanna do in the future," she sighed.

"You shouldn't be worrying about that. You're a smart girl and you have so many options for the future. Everything happens for a reason, and perhaps this is just the very beginning something big for you!" she gave her a big smile, the small wrinkles on her face becoming more defined.

"Thank you, Obaasan. For everything."

"Thank you for making me the world's proudest grandma! Someone had to make up for my disappointment of a daughter!" Tamako burst out into laughter.

And soon, she was off to school at the time she normally was even if she didn't have practice. Waking up early was a good habit she liked to have and she would use that extra time to go to the library and study in the mornings. She was also a member of the gardening club, so she took the morning shift to water and clean the plants, it wasn't all that bad.

This routine was followed throughly everyday. It became the new normal. Today was no different. She would get to school, do what she has to do, come home with her grandmother and do more of what she has to do. She did it everyday, never missing out a single detail.

Uta was spacing out a little during class, doodling on her notebook and thinking about what her grandmother had told her.

What _big thing_ could she have possibly meant? She had dreamed about swimming almost her whole life. Ever since she was small, swimming was the thing she was so passionate about, the only thing that helped her clear her mind when she was going through it.

It made sense, if she was good and passionate enough, that she would do it for the rest of her life. But now she had to wonder what else it was she had a passion for?

 _'Man this sucks,'_ she tapped her pencil.

And just as she was lost in an ocean of future possibilities, she was brought back to the shore of reality when she heard her name.

"Iriye Uta!" the teacher caught her attention, her swim coach happened to be in the room with a very distressed look on her face.

 _'Did something happened to Eri?'_ was her first thought.

"Uta, bring all your stuff. Come with me. There's been an emergency!"

"O-okay," she quickly grabbed all her belongings and rushed with her towards the office. "Umm, is everything okay sensei?"

"Something happened..."

__________

It was lunchtime, one of the days Ushijima gets to sit back and relax since he had no duties at the moment. The volleyball team was sitting at their usual table, leaving two spaces open for Uta and Eri, but the two were not present.

"Hmm it's unusual for them not to be here ain't it?" Tendou was drinking a box of juice.

"Yeah. I guess Eri might have some captain stuff to do but where's Uta?" Semi wondered.

"Who are they?" Goshiki, who was eating with them for the first time, asked.

"A beautiful goddess sent from the heavens and a magnificent devil!" Tendou dramatically raised his hands to the air.

"Don't call her the devil!" Semi defended.

" _Okay,_ just because you like her doesn't take away from the fact that she's evil."

"I-I...dude I don't!"

Everyone snickered as they saw his face turn red as a tomato. Most of them already knew he had a thing for her, the only issue was they didn't know if she returned his feelings. She might, she usually chose to sit next to him and the two study together and talk on their own time.

"Wow Semi-senpai! You're incredible!" Goshiki praised.

"Please...stop."

Ushijima was observing the conversation, but the only thought really sitting there was whether or not Uta was going to come on a day he was actually there. They hadn't seen each for half the week, and the times he did was just waving hello or goodbye and a simple exchange of "I hope your day is well," or "make sure not to push yourself."

And just as his mind was flooding with disappointed thoughts, Eri rushed into the cafeteria, bumping into someone and quickly apologizing. Her eyes were wide and red, the corners were irritated from wiping tears away.

She slammed her hands on the table and looked at everyone and then to Wakatoshi straight in the eye, there was something she had to say but didn't want to spill it. Everyone was quiet while she managed to gather her thoughts.

Goshiki was extremely confused why there was a beautiful but sad looking lady standing at their table.

"Tamako-san!" she held back a whimper, "Uta's grandmother...a stroke! She's _gone!"_

And there was silence in the table. Their wide eyes were on Eri who was really trying hard not to cry again and then turned to Ushijima who had a grief in his eyes they had never seen before. The team knew how close he was with the Elder Iriye, he even thought of her as his own grandmother.

Poor Goshiki had no idea what was going on. It was a very unlucky time for him to be sitting with them while all of them mourned the death of Iriye Tamako. They all knew her well. Elder Iriye always invited people to her home with open arms and a warm heart.

It was unbelievable.

Ushijima felt an unfamiliar sensation that was tugging on his throat, like hands clenching his vocal chords. In the pit of his stomach he felt red, hot, intensity flare like a volcano ready to erupt.

Shirabu stood up from his chair with a good suggestion, "I'll go tell Coach Washijo. I think you'll want practice to be excused for today."

"Ah...umm, I'll go with you Shirabu-san!" Goshiki removed himself from the awkward situation and followed his senpai.

Eri sat next to Ushijima who looked like a lost child. She placed a comforting hand in his shoulder, "we should all go see her after school."

Even Tendou, who most considered to be the most heartless, sat with his hands covering his mouth and nose in complete and utter shock at the news.

The remainder of lunch was quiet, as if mourning the loss of Iriye Tamako, and they truly were.

Not a single one of them could think straight the rest of the day. Nothing they learned was absorbed besides the bleak reality that Tamako was suddenly gone from this world. Time stretched out for miles and miles as they wondered how Uta was doing, how badly she was grieving.

Tamako was her _only_ family.

And luckily, Coach Washijo was understanding and merciful enough to cancel practice that day and even for the weekend, to give them some time to recuperate. After waiting for what seemed an eternity, they met after school and rushed to the Iriye residence.

The gates were open, people were coming in and out of the house leaving gifts and flowers in a small shrine that had already been made. Tamako contributed to her community her entire life, people were very disappointed that such a lively spirit had been lost.

Uta was not downstairs with the rest of the crowd, so they all went upstairs and stopped at the door of her room when they heard the hiccups and anguished gasps for breath.

Eri knocked, "Uta? Can we come in?" She couldn't manage to keep herself from crying, her voice was shaking with the tears.

There was a quiet shuffling before the door flew open. The more softer members of the volleyball team like Semi, Yamagata, and Ohira began to shed tears when they saw her face. Tendou and Ushijima did not, but their faces really said it all.

Uta was terribly tired from crying for so many hours. Her nose was red, her eyes were swollen and bleeding with agony, tears still spilling out like a waterfall.

She threw her arms around Eri and let out the gut-wrenching sobs she might have been holding in for the past few hours.

"Come on, let's sit down."

They sat against her bed, the rest of the boys sitting in a circle, Ushijima sitting at her other side. For a very long time, they sat there and cried, Eri had her arm around Uta as she buried her crying face into her shoulder. She tightly held Ushijima's hand and the only comfort he could offer was rubbing her hand with his thumb.

For _hours,_ she was inconsolable. The sobbing stopped after some time, but she didn't speak and she refused to eat. Eventually, everyone but Eri and Ushijima had left the house. As the people who were closest to her, they didn't want to leave her alone.

It wasn't until two very special people showed up that things sort of turned around.

They had moved downstairs to the living room after people from town had stopped coming. Uta was laying on her side with her head on Eri's lap, still tightly holding onto Ushijima. That whole time, she hadn't spoken a single word.

It was already late, about 11PM when they heard knocking at the gates.

"Oh, I know who it is," Ushijima stood up, "I will get it." Uta and Eri looked at each other in confusion. Part of Uta was slightly angry because she didn't want to deal with anyone at that time.

But that changed when she saw who it was.

Uta jumped time her feet and ran to throw herself into the open arms of her dear cousin, "Keiji!!"

"I'm so sorry, Uta," Akaashi hugged her tightly.

"Bokuto-san! You're here too!" she smiled as she wiped the tears.

"Ushiwaka told Akaashi what happened and I thought I'd come down to help cheer you up!"

"Who are they?" Eri whispered to Ushijima. She was confused why two complete strangers were able to make her smile at a time like this just by making an appearance.

"That one is her cousin, Akaashi Keiji. The other one is his partner, Bokuto Koutaro. They both play volleyball."

_'Of course he had to throw in that detail.'_

"I thought I'd never hear her speak."

"Me too."

The both of them inhaled and exhaled tensely.

"We'll leave her in your hands," Eri bowed to the two boys.

"She'll be fine. We'll make sure she gets sleep and eats properly," Akaashi assured.

"Ushiwaka!! Let's play sometime!" Bokuto tried to give him a high five. Ushijima very awkwardly and slowly returned it.

"Wait!" Uta called as they had ready stepped out the door. She ran to them and jumped to put her arms around the two, "thank you so much. You don't know how much it means to have you both worth me. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Ushijima questioned.

"Just because," she was wiping away the tears and her voice was still shaking. "I appreciate you so much...I will try my best to be okay."

"Take your time, no one expects it to be easy," Eri put her hand on Uta's shoulder.

"Have a safe trip back," Uta smiled for the first time that day. It wasn't the full and bright smile they were used to, but it was still nice to see she managed it.

The two solemnly trudged their way back to the dorms, not saying much besides "I still can't believe this."

Tendou was still awake when Ushijima returned to their room. He was laying in bed with his face on his pillow, eyebrows furrowed together. It was the most upset Ushijima had seen him outside a game.

"Oh hey, it's pretty late," Tendou lifted his head when he saw Ushijima.

"Yeah, we were waiting for Uta's cousin to get there."

"Okay that's good, I was sorta worried she would have to sleep in that biiiig house all on her own."

Ushijima hadn't thought of that small detail. Sure Akaashi and Bokuto were with her at the moment, but after that she would be completely alone. Isolated in a house full of memories of her grandmother that she loved so much.

"That is concerning," was his response. They didn't say much else, soon the lights were off and the two were laying on their backs in bed, thinking about the whole ordeal.

"Ya know...it's okay if you're upset about it," Tendou hesitated to consult Ushijima.

"..."

"We all know ya are. It's okay to cry or throw a fit if ya want to. I know you're not someone who does that kinda stuff, but if you ever want to it's not a big deal."

"Please stop." Wakatoshi recalled the feeling he had earlier as it crept back into his throat and lit his stomach on fire.

It has been almost three years that they have known each other. Tendou knew, or it was actually obvious to anyone really, that Ushijima wasn't very expressive. People who cared for him, like Tendou and Uta did, accepted it and never expected him to show anything other than a stoic expression under any circumstance.

But Tendou also knows, he _has_ to be hurting right now.

Ushijima isn't expressive, yes. But Tendou sees the happiness in his eyes when he comes home with a bag of fruit, the smile he has when he eats leftovers that Tamako gave to him, how he saw her as his own family since his was never complete.

There is no way even the _Ushiwaka_ isn't in pain right now, so if Tendou digs his own grave, then he does it so Ushijima doesn't have to bottle up these emotions.

"I know she was like your own grandma."

"Tendou-"

"Are ya really gonna just gonna sit there passively about it? God, Wakatoshi she invited you into her house like you were her own grandson, _all_ of us!"

"I'm not trying to be indifferent about it."

"Okay then, how do you feel?"

"I don't know..."

"Do you really think Tamako-san would like you reacting this way? You can't pretend like she didn't matter to you-"

"Of course she did!" he raised his voice. "I'm not the one you should be worrying about."

 _'I'm getting there,'_ Tendou realized he poked a nerve. Of course, he figured Ushijima was much more concerned about Uta's feelings than he was his own.

"I think Uta would tell you it's okay to cry."

And that's what got him. It took just a moment, but Tendou finally heard it: a single, soft sniffle.

Ushijima turned over to face the wall and brought the blanket up to his eyes so they would absorb the tears that were silently streaming down his cheeks.

The last time he felt _this_ hurt, _this_ agony was when his father had left. The feeling of someone you love disappearing from your life. Only this time, it was permanent.

Ushijima felt something hit his back accompanied with the sound of crinkled plastic. Tendou had thrown a small, opened packet of tissues down from his bunk.

"It's okay, I did too."

_________

The funeral was very beautiful. It was smaller than you would expect for someone as beloved as Iriye Tamako to have, but Uta chose to have it that way because it is what her grandma wanted.

Akaashi and Bokuto were unable to come back to Miyagi for it since the two were too busy and too far, but they bought flowers to leave at her burial before they left. Ushijima had accompanied her to the event that day.

Eri could not make it because that weekend was qualifying matched for nationals and Uta refused to let her miss, saying even Elder Iriye would haunt her in her sleep if she missed.

Uta didn't go to school the whole following week and it made everyone quite anxious, but they would all make sure to check in and would bring food after school just so they were positive she was staying healthy.

"Thank you for everything," the two took their final bow at Tamako's grave before leaving the burial site.

"How do you feel this week?" Ushijima asked.

"You know...better. It is slowly going to get there." A cool summer breeze blew past them and Ushijima observed the way Uta smiled up to the sky.

She was beautiful this way. Here eyes forward looking with hope, like she was never going to give up. He admires her because she has so much strength, because she is always firm and grounded about herself.

"And you?"

He smiles in return, "I'm doing better too."

The stoic surprisingly admitted to Uta that he cried. She was confused as to why he just brought it up, but he explained that he didn't want her to think he didn't care. Upon hearing this, she had laughed for the first time since her grandmother passed.

 _'I know you care about things in your own way Wakatoshi-san! You don't have to prove anything to me!'_ he recalls her words. They made him feel accepted, and he was happy it was from someone he cared for.

Maybe Tamako was right about how he felt about her, but his feelings would still have to wait.

"Apparently it's going to take me a while to be able to read Obaasan's will. They told me it's very long."

"That's interesting."

"Yeah, she left stuff for a lot of people apparently, maybe even for you! She really had a lot of valuable item...I don't really know what I'll do with it all."

"If you ever need help I will assist you."

Uta smiled, "I know I can count on you."

Just as the two were leaving in high spirits, Uta's efforts to climb out of the deep pit of grief were abolished when they encountered a certain individual.

As they were exiting the area, a voice reluctantly called out to her.

"U-Uta?" the voice was almost scared to say her name.

The two turned around to check for who it was and immediately, Ushijima knew this was not good. It's almost as if Uta's fight-or-flight response kicked in for a brief moment. She flinched forward as if she was going to run away, but stopped herself.

Another carbon copy of Elder Iriye stood before them, Ushijima knew who it was the moment he laid eyes on her. He heard her name mentioned very few times but he didn't know the weight, or better yet, the burden it was to Uta.

_Iriye Hina._

"O-okaasan.."


	14. Year 3: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Abuse, domestic violence

_"I won't let him hurt us anymore."_

She always said that. Every time. After cleaning the wounds, icing the bruises, wiping the tears. She said it _every_ time.

"Uta."

_"He won't be laying a finger on you as long as I'm here."_

She would bring Uta's little head to her chest and hug her tightly, smothering her with love.

"Uta."

But it was never real.

"Uta?"

Iriye never thought she would have to worry about investing her entire being into a relationship that was completely one sided again. But all her relationships started to feel this way, even with those who gave her every reason to believe she was _really_ loved.

"I'm leaving," Ushijima stood up from the dining table, not having touched the cold soba noodles they had made. He was clearly upset, from what she could tell.

Eyebrows lowered, lips pouting to the side, his nostrils flare up just a little.

"Ah, umm, I'm sorry."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in frustration.

"What did I do?" Uta questioned.

"You've barely spoken a word this whole time. I'm practically not here."

Summer break rolled in once again. It hadn't been over a month yet since Tamako passed away, but ever since Uta's mother had resurfaced into her life, she was not the same.

"Well _excuse_ me, it's not like _you_ often have much to say and I don't ever have a problem with it!" Uta leaned forward with her palms against the table.

"I-I know. It's not like I want to be like this."

She hurt him, she could tell when he shifted his gaze away from her and furrowed his eyebrows.

It was unfair of her to accuse him of something he couldn't help. Ushijima was always this way, it's who he is and who he will always be.

Uta recalls once he told her _'sometimes I wish I had half the words to say as you do.'_ And it was then she realized he was insecure about his social ineptness.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have said that to you," Uta stared sadly at the noodles.

Ushijima sighed and took his seat again, "I am sorry if I don't speak as much-"

"Don't apologize for that! I'm the one who's in the wrong here!"

"...okay."

Uta smiled, going back to her usual cheery self, but Ushijima knew there was still something bothering her.

"Let's talk then!" she dipped the noodles in a sauce and stuffed them into her mouth.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing is wrong!"

Ushijima threw her a piercing look of judgment, holding noodles right below his mouth.

She raised an eyebrow in response.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

It's almost as if they read each other's minds.

"I'm going to go visit my mother," Uta finally confessed. "She's at umm, a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, Matsuzawa I think it's called? I'll be taking the bullet train on Saturday."

"I see. Are you nervous?"

Her fists clenched the fabric of her skirt, "nervous doesn't even begin to explain..."

"What happened with you and your parents?" the big question Ushijima has been asking himself for a _very_ long time now was asked.

So many people had pointed out that there was something lying underneath her sweet disposition. Something she was constantly trying to sweep under the rug.

"I don't want to talk about that," she was quick to shoot the question down.

Wakatoshi wanted to argue it, but forcing the truth out of people is never the way to go. She tends to easily shut down when people are persistent with her, he knows this.

He couldn't help but sigh, however. "That's okay." There was a moment of silence as Ushijima swirled the noodles around in the bowl, "but if you ever do want to talk about it, I will listen."

"I'll keep that in mind," she smiled.

"I will also be in Tokyo. We are receiving training from a university team. We leave Wednesday and return on Saturday."

"Sounds like fun, are you and the team excited?"

"We hope it will be helpful, their team is good."

"Oooo, it should be fun then! If not I bet _you_ can teach them a thing or two!" Uta chuckled.

"I wouldn't get so ahead of myself," he smiled. "Also if you want I can accompany you home on Saturday. We will be done early that day."

"Don't worry about me! Come back with your team you're their captain, isn't that your job?"

"It's not like they need me to hold them by the hand back to Miyagi."

"Ah, that's right it's more like _you_ need them to hold your hand back to Miyagi. Your navigation skills are quite, hmm, how should I put this? Lacking?"

"It's a lefty thing," he pouted.

"Is that so?" Uta laughed.

The two ate their noodles and idly chatted until it was time for Ushijima to go pick Shouta up to train with him. There was much more discussion throughout their time together, but Uta still couldn't help feel the tugging at her mind.

"If you want me to come back with you from Tokyo, let me know. My offer still stands."

"You're really sweet, you know that?"

He stared at her with what she knew as his surprised face. The only thing different about this expression from his normal face was that his eyes were just slightly wider.

"I just thought I'd let you know."

His reaction was silent but warm, as any sign of affection he displayed usually was. Ushijima reached his hand to pat her head and slowly glided his fingers to her cheek before turning around and walking out the gates without exchanging a single word.

Uta was left at the scene red as the raspberries growing in the green house, her hands on her chest trying to contain how flustered she was.

_'Oh to know what went on in that head of his,'_

__________

Tokyo was much hotter than Miyagi. That, or she was getting so nervous it felt like the air was thicker in her vicinity. Getting closer and closer to the hospital, it's almost like there were chains at her feet weighing her down.

_"You're an absolute waste of an existence."_

Hurtful words reverberated in her head as she headed to the receptionist to request the patient information.

_"I'm here for you, I'm always going to be here."_

The elevator ascended steadily, beeping with each floor it went up, she was waiting until the 5th floor.

_"You owe your life to me. I brought you into this world and I can choose to take you out of it."_

Now, it was cold. The air conditioning inside the building sent a chill up her spine and the surface of her skin was prickled with cool air against her sweat.

Uta could hear her own heavy breathing as she watched her hand shake to reach for the handle of the door.

 _'Can I really do this?'_ she pulled back.

Why she was doing this in the first place? She had no idea. People passed her by, understanding that visiting a patient in a psychiatric hospital is usually coupled with a deep, sad trauma.

But there is no way she would heal from any of it if she didn't give her mother a chance. Uta wasn't convinced she deserved one, yet here she is, slowly sliding the door open to see her mother spraying a few plants with water. She looked peaceful, unlike the image Uta had of her in her mind.

"Uta," she gives an uncertain smile, "I'm glad you made it here."

__________

Uta hadn't felt so emotionally drained since she moved in with her grandmother. Not even when she passed away, not even when the doctors told her that her swimming career was over, nothing compared to how much energy was sucked out of her for the past two hours.

It didn't go _bad._ It went fine between the two actually until Uta mentioned her father was where Hina Iriye got hysterical.

Apart from that, her mother only spoke of her recovery and her transition from and intense psychiatric facility to this more laid back hospital where they let her go out and have her own personal belongings. She was certainly more at peace with herself, but she wasn't 100% there yet, maybe slightly over half.

It ended on a strange note with her mother saying, "I'm glad you don't look like him or else I'd never be able to look at you again."

Then Uta responding, "I still have his miserable blood, unfortunately."

Even if they didn't talk about the incident or the years of abuse they both endured, it came back to haunt Uta every second she was in there with her mother. She felt the ghosts of her past that her grandmother spent years helping her fight was now holding her by the throat, telling her she's too weak to handle this alone.

But she can't yell, she can't cry because there are too many people. There is physical pain from the heartbreak, it's hard to breathe.

Getting the train all the way back would require too much energy that she didn't have, so she gave a quick phone call to a family inn the Iriye family had negotiations with to make arrangements. Luckily, she foresaw this event as a possibility and came prepared.

Before departing, she had to take a moment to compose herself. Inhaling and exhaling sharply, shakily, focusing whatever energy she had left to prevent any tears from falling.

_'It's okay.'_

She headed towards the doors, standing up straight with her head up.

_'It will be okay.'_

The day was still young, the fact that it was nice and sunny when she was feeling so gloomy made her want to puke.

_'Everything is fine.'_

Instinctively, her eyebrows scrunched close together and her fists clenched at her sides. There were so many emotions to process, rage, hopelessness, grief. The young girl just wanted to curl into a ball and yell.

"Uta!" she was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a familiar, gruff voice call out her name.

She didn't have to turn to know who it was, she even recognized the distinct sound of his footsteps now.

"Seems like I made it right on time."

Uta bit her lower lip, closed her eyes, and dropped her head down. It was taking everything she had in her not to burst out into tears.

"How did it-"

She turned around and almost slapped him across the mouth. Uta had no strength to speak at all, if she did it would only be her agonized cries for help. His eyes had never been so wide, they were almost bursting out the sockets with how surprised he was.

Ushijima figured that she was definitely not doing okay. It was written all over her face, but her actions made her seem much more frantic. Slowly, she removed her hand and spoke.

"I'm sorry for that."

"It's nothing. I'm sorry if I surprised you."

"Why did you come?" she lifted her head to meet his eyes. She was terribly sad.

"I didn't want you to go back to Sendai alone."

"You really came all the way over here and left your team just for that?"

"Of course I did."

Uta was quiet for a moment, just staring at him like he had just saved her life. In a way, he really did. She couldn't wrap her finger around why, but it felt like the burden she was carrying was a bit lighter now.

"I-I'm not going back to Miyagi, I'm staying here in Tokyo for the night."

"I see..." there was a momentary silence, "I will stay with you."

Her eyes widened at his bold statement. Not because it might have _implied_ a few things, she knew he didn't have those intentions, but because he so easily offered his help to her. To stay with her when she was at her lowest low.

"Oh, I mean...only if you are okay with that. I can go home, or get my own room," he cleared his statement.

"No. It's okay, I just...you're far too kind to me."

"It's not like you're undeserving of it."

 _'It really feels like I am'_ , the thought shot through her head, but instead she gave him a sad smile in response. She turned around and pointed forward, leading them in the direction of where they would be staying.

Ushijima knew it was a nervous tick of hers to rub her hands together and crack her fingers. It was nerve-wracking to watch her slowly deteriorating.

He desperately wanted to ask if she was okay or what happened during her visit, but he knew she wouldn't say a word. It was infuriating to him.

He lost his patience with her most of the time. Yes, Uta was cheerful and sweet and talked from morning to night, but at the end of the day she knew everything about his world and he knew absolutely nothing.

He shared everything with her, and only until recently does he realize that it was not reciprocated. It was truly his loss, he spent so much time with her only to feel estrangement.

Did he really know her?

Was the broken vessel he was looking at right now the real Uta?

He forces the memories he has with her to resurface. There were so many memories they shared together, and she is smiling or laughing in the majority of them. He remembers Matsushima when she slept on his shoulder and how it made his heart feel warm. When they went to Tokyo together and she held his hand when she was nervous. All the times she has shown him any affection.

The day the accident happened. They were so close, the moment was so intimate. Ushijima never thought he could have that with anyone, he had never even considered the idea of 'love' playing into his life, but here they are.

How did it get to this point?

Why did he walk her home? That's where this all started in the first place. There was no need after the day he hit her to accompany her every single day. It was so out of his way, there was so much effort that had to be put into their relationship.

Finally, he recalls their first encounter. He doesn't remember what was going through his head when he hit her, but he doesn't remember being scared.

 _'What was I thinking about?'_ he tries to remember.

Wakatoshi glances down to see she has stopped messing with her hands, she probably noticed she was doing it. Uta's eyes were fixated forward and he realizes she looks older from when they first met, but it's still _her._

She's always looking forward, figuratively speaking. Maybe he doesn't know everything about her he wants to know, but he knows that every tender moment they have shared together is real.

And looking at her right now, he remembers the thing he first thought when he saw her.

_'She's fascinating.'_

Ushijima smiles at this, and he doesn't notice when Uta's eyes linger on him for a moment.

The room they were staying in was relatively spacious with a low table, a television on the wall and a closet with futons to lay out in the tatami floor. When they arrived, the two took showers, enjoyed a meal provided by the inn, and finally sat in front of the television to watch a movie, not much was said between the two.

At night, Ushijima stared at the ceiling, he wasn't able to sleep quickly thinking about how quiet Uta was that day. He turns to his side to see Uta laying with her back turned to him a few feet away.

"Uta," he called her quietly to check if she was awake.

"Mhm?" she slightly turned her head to him.

"I hope to see you smile soon."

Uta shifted to the position Ushijima was in, taking a moment to look at the blank ceiling.

"Things weren't always so complicated with my parents," she started.

Ushijima snapped his head to her, eager for her to continue.

"I mentioned to you my parents were sort of in an arranged marriage right?"

"Yeah."

"It's not that my parents didn't love each other. They did at some point, but I think they ended up loving something else more than each other. It started when my grandpa died. My father took over the business, but he wasn't ready or completely trained for it, so long story short, it kind of fell apart. A lot of ties were cut with the labs, they lost a lot of business, and it came crashing down along with my father's confidence."

She took a deep breath, it seemed like the story would only get more complicated from that point.

"No one else to take it out on other than me and my mother. We were the targets for his stress relief, and it never seemed like it was enough. I was always in pain, always had cuts and bruises no one could see because he didn't want to be discovered. Speaking up was out of the question, anytime I wanted to it was like I forgot how to speak. I was...I was so scared."

Her fists clenched at the blanket, Wakatoshi just continued to watch those silver, distant orbs of hers.

"He didn't let me see my grandmother for years. There was always an excuse. My mother was all I had at the time. Every time we would get into problems, I would come into her room at night and she would help me clean up my wounds telling me that she wasn't going to let it happen again, but I..."

The tears rolled slowly down her face and there were quiet whimpers before she move on.

"I didn't want it to happen to her. Every time, _every time_ , I would pull him away from my mother to make him stop and I would take the hits so she wouldn't have to. But...she never did the same. She just _watched_ it happen, and it took me _so_ long to realize I was being used and neglected by the one person I would have given my life for."

Ushijima recalls the incident that occurred their first year when she protected Hyoga from the third year.

 _'At least he didn't take that alone.'_ The words that he gave much thought to before just became a hot, searing scar in his mind. They had a whole different meaning now.

"I realized this much too late. I didn't know how much she had been suffering because of me and because of my father."

"That's not your fault!" he interrupted, he didn't know where the red-hot rage burning his blood was coming from.

"It is..." she closed her eyes, "one time my father made the reckless mistake of throwing a vase at my face. Of course, there was nasty cuts and black eye that wasn't easy to hide. My parents told me to stay home from school so no one would notice, but I sneaked out anyway and I told my teacher about what was going on at home. They had to call my parents in to ask them questions but my father denied it...even my mother did. In the end I went home, with the principal believing I was just a rebellious and clumsy child."

Ushijima felt his jaw growing sore from clenching his teeth so tightly together and his features furrowing into an agonized frown.

"I wasn't the one who got hit that day...it was my mom. Instead, I was locked in my room to hear my mother crying and my father yelling that I did that to her right at my door. They're words I can never forget as hard as I try to push them out. After I was finally able to get out, it was just too late for her, that seemed to be her breaking point."

Uta sat up and turned so her back was facing Ushijima. She slid the sleeve of her yukata off her shoulder and moved her hair out of the way, pointing at the scar he had noticed the last time they travelled together.

"My father wasn't the one who did this to me, it was my mother. Maybe I would have died that night, I don't know. But I escaped, I ran to the police station at night with a knife in my back. Just imagine..." she slid her sleeve back and hugged her knees, "a 12 year old girl, running through the streets, bleeding and crying. Yelling for help, and no one batted an eyelash."

Now he remembers their second year during the cultural festival when she cried after he offered his help to her. He never knew what made her so emotional about it since she wasn't one to cry over small, simple things like that, but he understands now.

No one had protected her when she needed it, when she was defenseless. Him telling her that she didn't have to worry about being harmed meant the world to her, for once there was someone willing to stick up for her.

"That's just how it ends. That night was the last time I saw my mother before seeing her at Obaasan's funeral. I didn't see my parents while the trial was taking place, but I was put into a few strange homes and constantly asked questions about my life with my parents...they didn't even let my see my grandma."

"Did you come to Miyagi after that?" Ushijima finally spoke.

"Yes. My father is in jail still while my mother was put in intense psychiatric care for a few years. Today, she seemed to be doing better I just...I can't see anything other than the face she had when she literally stabbed me in the back!" she slammed her palms on her futon. He couldn't see her face, but he can tell from her shaky voice she's still crying.

"God, I..." she ran her fingers through the roots of her hair and clenched them tightly in her fists, "I've...I've just been ignoring this for years! I never thought I'd have to see her again and I just...I hate myself so much! I feel so worthless remembering everything they did to me! Was I not worth her protection? Did I deserve everything that happened to me? I was their _child!_ How could they have done this to me?!"

And just like a broken dam, her grief poured out her tired heart in a series of gut-wrenching sobs and agonized breaths.

Uta has been so scared of letting it out in front of Ushijima, scared to know whether or not he would still accept her as broken as she was. She knew he wanted to know the truth for so long, but she wasn't ready to lose him and be rejected the same way her mother had done to her.

He did, in fact, have no idea what to do for a moment besides stare at her back as she shivered and hugged herself. He was afraid to do or say the wrong thing when she was in such a delicate state.

However, he figured it would be worse to not do anything at all, so he stood up and sat besides her, rubbing her back in circles.

"You're worthy of so much more," he spoke quietly.

She nodded, wiping away the tears while more stained her face, "I know, I know. Obaasan always told me that."

Uta didn't look at him, but she scooted closer and he put his arm around her shoulder. Even like this, when her eyebrows were scrunched together and her nose was snotty and runny, he couldn't help but smile. Ushijima moved the bangs from her forehead and planted a gently kiss that made her stop her crying for a moment.

"You are beautiful."

"Aha," she hiccuped at first and it turned into a hearty, genuine laughter. It was a little strange to see her laughing and crying at the same time.

She put her head on his shoulder and sighed, "thank you."

Ushijima turned his body towards her, putting his hand around her head and bringing her close to his chest. It was all he could offer her. A warm, comforting embrace.

And that was enough.


	15. Year 3: Part 3

Healing is much easier said than done, but a few things had begun to get better more or less. The more Uta interacted with her mother, the easier it got and less anxiety she experienced.

Sometimes she wouldn't eat lunch with the group, and at times Ushijima caught her sitting on her own just staring at the sky. What she thought about? He had no idea. Sometimes he would ask, sometimes he'd let her be.

That was before the Spring Qualifiers came around the corner. Once it got to this point, it seemed like the only thing he ever thought about was _volleyball, volleyball, volleyball_. It was concerning, even for his teammates.

Before, the two worked out an agreement that Uta would wait for Ushijima to finish practice and he would walk her home, but at some point he told her "don't wait around for me. I'll be practicing late." And so she didn't.

Uta let out a sigh as she thought about Wakatoshi. It had been a few days since they saw each other or even spoke a word. She would message him things like "I hope you had a good day!", "Remember not to push yourself too hard!" or "Make sure to eat properly!" but he would almost always vaguely answer: "Thanks."

She thought it was only her, but eventually the rest of the members voiced their concerns to her, it was becoming a problem.

It was the weekend before their Spring Tournament, Uta was out for a walk to buy groceries and stop for a few Sakura mochi to brighten her mood, but something felt off...almost like someone was watching her.

She turned around and behind a wall, saw a black shoe sticking out.

She crept forward a little, then turned around and saw an orange tuft of hair sticking out behind a trash can.

"Hmmmm," she narrowed her eyes.

Uta ran into the block close by and waited until the two young men followed her into the alley.

"You two are terrible at stalking people! What are you trying to do?!" she pointed a reprimanding finger at them.

"A-Ah! KAGEYAMA it was your idea you explain!" the bright headed boy pushed the taller boy forward.

"Don't tell her that Hinata-boke! It's not like that!" he was embarrassed.

"Answer me!" Uta raised her voice.

The two quickly got to their knees and bowed in apology, "we are sorry! We didn't mean to be creepy we just saw your jacket and haven't had the courage to talk to you..." Hinata explained.

Uta was wearing her Shiratorizawa swim jacket, which would explain why they had questions.

"What? You two from another school? Do you swim?" Uta asked.

"No, we play volleyball. We were hoping you knew something about the volleyball team," Kageyama asked.

Uta let out a cackle as she held her stomach. The two were almost scared for what she would answer.

"Are you scared of them?"

"N-no! Of course not! We're going to beat Ushiwaka and his team!" Hinata proclaimed.

"Ah, so you want to be the great Ushiwaka do you?"

They nodded their heads.

"Have you met him?" Uta questioned.

"We ran into him a while back while he was on a run. We told him we would defeat his team, but that's about it," Kageyama responded.

Uta let out another boisterous laugh. "HAHAHA you said that to Waka- I mean Ushijima-san?! You two got some nerves, I like you!"

The two blushed slightly and rubbed the backs of their heads.

"Anyway," she crouched to their level, "let's pretend I do know about their team. I wouldn't be able to tell you. I can't betray my school that way!"

"Told you, Kageyama. They won't let us know their secrets."

"Shut up! You didn't tell me, Hinata-boke!"

"I did so!"

"What school are you from?" Uta interrupted to stop the bickering.

"Karasuno," they answered.

"She asked me!" Kageyama waved his fist.

"She was asking the both of us you asshole!"

Uta sighed again as they yelled. _'These two almost sound like Semi and Tendou on a normal day...maybe even worse.'_

"You two like Sakura mochi? I'll treat you to some!"

The two let Uta treat them to a snack and somehow, they ended up going grocery shopping with her...then they ended up in her home and helped her make Sukiyaki (hot pot) that they all enjoyed together. The three talked nonstop, especially Iriye and Hinata.

She ended up telling them she's close friends with everyone in the volleyball team and while they all look intimidating, they're good people. When Uta mentioned Ushijima was practically her best friend, the two almost chocked on their food.

"Someone as nice as you?! Friends with a brute like him?!" Hinata yelled in utter shock.

Uta handed water to Kageyama as he chocked on a mushroom. "He's not bad at all! In fact he's the sweetest person I've ever met, he's like a snugly bear!"

Kageyama fell backwards and Hinata laughed at her words. They were very expressive and loud, but Uta hasn't felt this amount of joy in the presence of people since her grandmother passed away.

"Iriye-san, if we play against Shiratorizawa you have to promise you will be at our game!" Hinata declared as him and Kageyama stood at the gate ready to leave after a hearty meal.

"Don't sweat it! I'll definitely be there!" she saluted.

__________

It's not that Uta was expecting them to lose, she was just surprised how it turned out that she met Karasuno's freak duo just a week before they would play against her school.

"Fate sure is weird sometimes..." she muttered to herself as she marveled at the Sendai arena.

"Huh?" Shouta, who has apparently been coming to all their games, asked as he walked next to Uta. He was only 12 years old now and was already taller than Uta, but he still had a little baby face.

"Oh, just talking to myself!"

The two proceeded to walk inside and Uta was able to catch Karasuno's team gathered in the hallway, there was still time before the match.

"Hinata! Kageyama!" Uta greeted them two, "I am here like I promised! Good luck to the both of you!"

"Thanks!" the two nodded.

"Huh?! You know them?" Shouta whispered.

"Oh yeah, this is Hiraki Shouta, he plays volleyball!" Uta intorduced him.

"I-I've seen your games. I love the freak quick attack you two do! And your libero is incredible!" Shouta sounded like a fan girl the way he talked about their team.

"Oh? Who is this?" a light haired young man peeped into the conversation.

"Oh, Sugawara-san! This is Iriye Uta-san, she's from Shiratorizawa. We met her last week!" Hinata answered.

"Huh?! You're friends with the enemy?!"

"It's not like that. We just happened to meet, she is nice," Kageyama said blankly.

"Ah I see, I see. I'm Sugawara Koushi, third year setter ready to face the big, bad Ushiwaka!"

Uta laughed and shook his hand, "it's nice to meet you all!" The duo introduced the rest of the team to her and Shouta, they got along very well and were surprised Uta was a third year and Shouta wasn't even in middle school yet.

While conversing with them, Uta caught a glance of Ushijima who was eyeing the group suspiciously from afar.

"I'll be right back," she pat Shouta's shoulder who nodded, he was too entertained with the crowd to listen.

"Why are you here?" Ushijima questioned.

"Oh I met Hinata and Kageyama last week by coincidence, they told me if they played against Shiratorizawa I had to come, so here I am!" she gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

His face did not return the sentiment. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Hmm I don't know. Maybe if you talked to me I would have remembered to bring it up?"

"I have been busy."

"Yeah...I know you have."

"Then why are you upset about it?"

"I'm not upset. You're the one who asked why I didn't tell you, so I told you," Uta cocked an eyebrow.

"You don't sound happy about it," Ushijima returned the gesture.

"Of course I'm not! It's like you've been ignoring me, and not _just_ me, everyone!" she raised her voice, beginning to feel the irritation from the exchange.

"So you _are_ upset?"

Uta pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "just focus on your game. We can talk about this later."

She walked past him, but Ushijima reacted quickly and grabbed her wrist, she turned back to him with her eyebrows raised and an annoyed look.

"I need to know, right now," he let her go, "please."

She remembered that Ushijima overthinks things too much. He doesn't like to be confused. When he doesn't have an immediate answer his mind goes in a thousand different directions and he can't focus properly. If she doesn't give him the answer now it'll only throw him off.

She sighed again and went on to answer, "putting so much effort into your passion is not a bad thing, I'm not upset that you put volleyball before everything else, I would never be angry at you for that. It would have been nice if you had answered my texts every now and then or if you even said hi, I was just worried because I-"

She stopped herself from rambling too much and uttering those forbidden words. Wakatoshi's face was blank as usual, totally oblivious to the fact she was about to say those three words.

"Because I don't want you to overwork yourself and get sick."

"I'm sorry. I should not have ignored you, I don't deserve your concern," his face showed genuine guilt even though it was very subtle.

"Hey, come on," she grabbed his left hand with both of hers, "if you're sorry, just make it up to me later! All you need to worry about is doing great out there, I will be here to support you when you need it."

It took him a moment to process what she said, he stared at her slightly agape for a moment before he gave her a small smile. "Thank you," he turned around, "don't take your eyes off me."

Ushijima didn't let her speak another word as she just stared at his back. Uta was left speechless and flustered, not moving an inch until Shouta pulled her jacket.

"We should get seated, they will be starting soon."

"O-oh yeah."

__________

The two sat away from the crowd of Shiratorizawa students and opted to sit in an emptier area to focus more on the game. There was two young men they could see who were arguing about something.

One had brown spiked hair and had an aggressive looking face and the other had wave brown hair with glasses.

Shouta gasped, "that's Iwaizumi Hajime and Oikawa Tooru! They're from Aoba Johsai!"

"Oh? Are they good?" Uta asked.

"Yes they're really good!"

"Why don't you go talk to them?"

"I-I could never...I can't just go up to them," Shouta fiddled around.

Uta slapped his back, "come on! Remember when you when up to Wakatoshi-san and yelled 'please teach me!' where is that courage now?"

"Dead, I was a child."

"You still are a child!"

He sighed and hung his head, "I won't..."

Uta chuckled mischievously and walked over to the two boys. "Good morning you two, this young boy is a big fan of yours and he was hoping he could talk to the both of you!"

The two stopped arguing and stared blankly at the pretty woman smiling at them.

"A-Ah of course! I'm Iwaizumi Hajime! This is Oikawa Tooru but you can call him Shittykawa it's a better fitting name," he stuttered on his words. Oikawa noticed he was flustered.

"And what might I call you besides beautiful?" Oikawa winked.

"Stop being creepy!" Iwaizumi slapped him across the head.

"Iwa-chan you're terrible!"

"You just met her Creepykawa!"

"Stop with the mean names!"

The two stopped when they heard Uta and Shouta laughing, "I'm Iriye Uta, third year at Shiratorizawa. This is Hiraki Shouta."

"Hmm? Maybe I should have gone to Shiratorizawa if all the girls are cute like you," Oikawa rubbed his chin.

"I won't let you flirt with Iriye-san she's Ushijima-san's girlfriend!" Shouta pointed a finger at him.

Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor.

"GIRLFRIEND?!" the two shouted.

"Shouta! That's not true don't tell people lies like that!" Uta scolded.

"You might as well be..." he muttered to the side.

Uta explained to the two who almost had a heart attack that they were only good friends and nothing more. As the game began, she somehow ended up telling them about what history they had together.

Oikawa asked a lot of questions...

"I didn't expect to find out Ushiwaka has a life outside of volleyball," Oikawa snickered.

"Everyone does. It's impossible to just live and breathe volleyball," Iwaizumi shook his head.

"Haha, I told Hinata and Kageyama and they were just as surprised as you were. He's very passionate about volleyball like you two probably are, but he has a social life and other hobbies as well. He trains Shouta on his free time too," she pointed to the young boy who nodded.

"He can _teach_?" the two men exclaimed.

"I wouldn't say he's fit to be a coach, but luckily I understand his vague instructions and he's patient when I don't. There are times he just talks about volleyball and doesn't really instruct it, I've learned to make a lot of mental notes about the things he says or does," Shouta explained. "But you'd be really surprised by how much he talks about random topics. He doesn't shut up about animals and plants sometimes."

The young men laughed at the last bit, Uta recalled a few times where Ushijima rambled about farming and cows. He likes cows a lot for some reason.

Uta and Shouta sat a few rows in front of Oikawa and Iwaizumi since they were trying not to get seen by the playing teams. Uta made sure to study up the rules of volleyball so she wouldn't be bothering anyone with questions, but she still had some every now and then.

She wondered why Ushijima hadn't invited her to a game their last year. First and second year was impossible since swim and volleyball season happened around the same time, but she was free most weekends. Uta didn't let it bother her much, she imagine it simply didn't occur to him since he's that type of person.

To say she was mesmerized by him might be an understatement. She didn't realize how beautiful he looked while he was playing, how he looked like a comet blasting through the sky. He gave the game every ounce of effort he could muster, and that made him shine like a star.

Iriye finally understood what the hype about the great Ushiwaka was about. He earned the title of an excellent and reliable ace. All she saw in him was someone powerful and dignified, someone who ruled the court with his presence.

"He's amazing," her words slipped.

"Isn't he? I want to be an ace just like Ushijima-san," Shouta smiled.

However, Uta admired how much passion and vigor Karasuno played with. Shiratorizawa's style was cut and dry but effective. The opponents were spontaneous and creative and there was a lot to appreciate on their part, especially Hinata Shoyo.

In her mind she cheered him on. Uta knew what it was like to be a smaller athlete, always ridiculed and underestimated, but they grew out of their self-consciousness and grew wings that were stronger than anyone else's.

That's why, when Shiratorizawa didn't make the cut that day, Uta was not disappointed, she was excited. She would get to see more of Hinata Shoyo.

"We're gonna get going. I'd rather die than have anyone from those teams see me here," Oikawa announced to Uta and Shouta.

"Ah, I see. It was nice meeting you Oikawa-san, Iwaizumi-san," Iriye bowed to the two.

"Don't be so formal, we can be friends," Oikawa took a paper out of his pocket and scribbled down something then handed it to Uta, "keep in contact, also keep me updated on whether or not Ushiwaka actually cries."

"I can give you a few pointers someday too, Shouta. It's nice to take advice from different sources," Iwaizumi pat Shout's shoulders, "if umm Iriye-san doesn't mind helping us meet up."

"I don't mind one bit. You can call me Uta by the way," she smiled.

"A-Ah okay," Iwaizumi chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

Oikawa and Shouta narrowed their eyes as they noticed how obviously flustered he was talking to Iriye.

"Alrighty Iwa-chan let's go! Awards are about to start and I will not be here for it!" Oikawa pressed.

"Nice meeting you two!" Iwaizumi waved.

After awards had passed, Uta congratulated Karasuno and told the freak duo she was excited to see what they would pull at nationals. After this, she went to go consolidate the members of Shiratorizawa who were in low spirits.

"Hey now, you guys went to every national competition before this. You had your time in the limelight now it's time to pass that torch to another team. You guys did wonderfully, don't think there is anything you could have changed," she spoke to Semi, Yamagata, and Goshiki who were crying.

They wiped their tears and nodded their heads, packing up to get on the bus.

"I'm a bit shocked, but I ain't really upset or nothin," Tendou looked down to Shouta, "here's an important lesson: losing is also part of volleyball."

"Thank you. I'll remember this," Shouta smiled a little, Satori ruffed his hair.

Ushijima walked up to the two, "thank you for talking to the other three. I didn't really know what to say."

"Figures, if you always win, loss isn't easy to handle," Uta giggled.

"I wouldn't say I lost, I think I learned a few things today," Ushijima said that last part a little quietly, but he seemed to be in high spirits despite losing. "Do you mind coming to campus with us? Coach Washijou wants Shouta to see us humiliated and I have something to talk to you about."

The two laughed and simply hopped on the bus, continuing to laugh all the way back to campus as the ruthless Washijou Tanji ripped a new one in all of them with his words. At the end, he did say they did well though, it was all in good spirits.

__________

Uta waited for their punishment to be over and Ushijima accompanied Uta to leave Shouta back to the orphanage. The whole way back, he was asking Shouta what mistakes were made and what was effective from both teams, the boy had seemed to analyze everything right to the bone.

"Soooo," Uta waved her arms, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

Ushijima took a moment, before fessing up. "After high school, I'm going to join the V. League and stay here in Japan. I am not sure where I will be going exactly, but I am going to take Shouta with me."

"HUH?!" Uta stopped, "I mean, like, you're adopting him?"

"I'm going to be his legal guardian. I am 18 so I can legally do it. I already spoke to the orphanage, all I would need to do is prove I am financially stable which will not be a problem if I am recruited," Ushijima explained.

"I-that's...that's a very big responsibility Wakatoshi-san," Uta scratched her head.

"Do you not believe in me?" he pouted just a little.

"No! It's not that! Shouta is still growing up, he's going to have questions and necessities and I'm just worried that you might not have everything he needs."

"All I needed in middle school was food and volleyball, I think we will be fine. I'm a good cook. I can cook w-"

"Wakatoshi-san, you're a bit _different_ from most people, your mind works differently and you might not have needed a lot of the things people your age did," Uta tried to explain.

Ushijima lifted an eyebrow and thought back for a moment. He couldn't think of anything more important than volleyball, what else could Shouta want?

"I'm not sure I understand."

Uta nodded, "okay, let's just say, for example, Shouta decides he does not want to play volleyball. What then?"

"Why wouldn't he wa-"

"This is just an example."

Ushijima was silent as he thought about and answer to a question that he couldn't quite fathom. "He would still live with me. If he finds an interest in something else that is okay."

Uta sighed in relief, "that's good to know. But you're basically going to have to be like his older brother. You're gonna need a lot of help with your social skills."

"I was wondering if..." he stopped and glanced away, something that was very unusual. "Maybe you could help me with that?"

Uta was taken aback by this suggestion. Not that it was preposterous, but at what it might be implying.

"I-umm. I can help you for as long as possible. After high school I'm going to university. I applied for a few here in Japan, but I'm considering a few places overseas as well, so that might be difficult," Uta looked away as she answered, but upon beholding Ushijima's reaction, she wished she could take it back.

The mention of going overseas was enough to make him shut down.

He simply stared into her eyes as if he didn't even know who she was. She had never seen such a sense of betrayal and pain in his eyes, like a lost child.

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered and looked to the ground, "I'm sorry I asked that. I shouldn't have, please forget it."

"Wakatoshi-san, what's wrong?" Iriye tried to reach for his hand, but he stepped back.

"Have a nice weekend," he bowed, something he never did before.

Iriye was so confused at this erratic behavior that she didn't even try to stop him, there was no time to process his change in demeanor. She trudged back into her house and laid in bed for a long time wondering why he had reacted that way.

The house felt lonelier than it usual.

Ushijima ran back to the dorms, he felt like his heart had been crushed into tiny pieces and he couldn't think of anything other than his father.

Your mother and I won't be living together anymore.

Tendou was asleep as expected form the 100 serve punishment, but was awoken up by Ushijima's unsteadiness when he bolted through the door, crashing into the closets and desks and dropping all his belongings.

"Hey Wakatoshi-kun, everything okay? You don't look that well," Tendou rubbed his tired eyes.

I'll be going overseas so we might not see each other for a very long time.

His breathing was heavy and he scrambled to the showers, leaving Satori extremely confused. He thought he just wasn't handling the loss very well.

I will keep in contact with you, Wakatoshi. Don't forget about your father.

' _Lies_ '. Without much thought, he removed his clothes and slammed his arm against the wall when his shirt wouldn't come off easily.

I love you and I'm proud of you.

' _Those are lies_ '. He stepped into whatever shower was empty, almost slipping on his way.

The water was cold, it snapped the giant out of the frenzy of thoughts. Ushijima leaned his head against the tiled wall and breathed, focusing on the cold water that dropped from his hair down his face, and dripped to the floor.

He felt an odd, warm stream falling down his cheek and he instinctively wiped it away, not processing that he would still be dripping wet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! If you're still reading this thank you for your patience 😊


	16. Year 3: Part 4

"Why are you avoiding her?" the fearsome Hamura Eri stood in Ushijima's path towards the gym.

"What are you talking about?" Ushijima plays it dumb, knowing exactly what she is saying.

"You've been avoiding Uta like she has the plague! She won't tell me anything about what happened between you two, but she is clearly very upset about it."

"There is nothing wrong. And if there was, it isn't your business. She clearly does not want you to know so what makes you think I am any different?" his tone was cold and hurt.

"You said you would tell her once your season is done. Are you going back on your word?" Eri reminded him.

"I should never have gotten my hopes up in the first place. I won't be the one who loses everything here. Not this way, not again."

Eri understood he was speaking from a place in his heart that had not healed yet. Whatever insecurity he felt, it wasn't up for her to decide what the two of them choose to do with their relationship.

"She cares about you _so_ much, Ushijima. You'll never have any idea what you mean to her."

"I do," he said under his breath as she walked away, _'because she means the world to me too'_.

_\- Day 2 of STZ Training Camp -_

"Thank you for bringing me Iriye-san! I'm so excited to see what I can learn from everyone here!" Shouta beamed as the two walked towards the gym for the first year training camp held at Shiratorzawa.

Coach Washijo found Shouta to be the most endearing child in the world, and saw a lot of potential in him, so he invited him to observe the training camp so he could improve some skills and gain knowledge from a variety of players.

Shouta was very excited, but Uta was inconvenienced in the sense that she was the only person who could be his guardian since Ushijima lived on campus. She couldn't say no to him in a billion years, but the idea of being around Ushijima only incited anxiety in her.

It was the second day of the camp where the third year students could look after Shouta while Uta went off to the library to do whatever work she had on her plate.

She took a deep breath at the door to the gym bracing herself if Ushijima was there and desperately hoping he was not.

"Why are you so nervous?" Shouta questioned.

"I am not. Nothing about my demeanor is nervous."

"You're speaking formally, that's a sign of nervousness."

"That's a false accusation. I do not believe that claim is backed by scientific evidence."

Shouta rolled his eyes and decided to open the door to the gym and peak his little head in.

"Coach Washijo!" he smiled widely and grinned, rushing inside while everyone was taking a break.

"Oooh Shouta-kun is here!" Iriye heard Tendou's voice which could only mean...

"Shouta, I'm glad you got here safely," Ushijima pat his head.

The young boy grinned ear to ear, Iriye was surprised by how close the two seemed. They were almost like actual brothers.

"Iriye-san is here too!!" he pointed to the door.

All the third years knew there had been some tension looming between Uta and Wakatoshi for the past few weeks, so they just sort of eyeballed the two until Uta took a bow towards their crowd and promptly left.

"Huh?" Shouta tilted his head, "that's weird she usually-"

"We should get to work then. We have a long day ahead of us," Ushijima interrupted.

Shouta looked towards the door, Uta was already far away and Ushijima was walking towards the group of third years. _'Something isn't quite right here'_ he wondered to himself.

Lunch time had finally come around after about 4 hours. Shouta didn't do any playing throughout that time, but his brain was fried from analyzing and answering Coach Washijo's questions.

Everyone there was taller and much larger, except for one person who Shouta couldn't keep his eyes off forever... the ball boy, _Hinata Shoyo._

He heard the young man crashed the camp and wasn't allowed to play, but the orange haired fellow seemed to be ashamed when his eyes met Shouta's. He figured it was embarrassment after seeing him do so well against the nutorious Shiratorizawa.

Once it was time for them to eat, Uta brought food for Shouta and heard him talk about the whole thing that she wasn't understanding much. For one, she didn't know much about the sport, and another, she felt Ushijima staring at her the whole time. Or, more like glaring.

"Hey, you're gonna kill her if ya keep looking at her like that," Tendou handed him the water bottle he had just filled for him.

"Like what?"

"I don't know...like you're gonna shoot lasers out of your eyes and incinerate her?"

"That is not possible."

"It's just a...never mind," he sighed, "why don't you talk to her?" Ushijima didn't respond but he frowned at Tendou and turned around to talk to the others.

Shouta noticed Ushijima's scowls and they even made _him_ nervous. He couldn't shake it off his mind that there was something serious going on between him and Iriye, but he didn't want to get into their business either.

"Oh! Hinata!" Uta waved to the ball boy and skipped up to him, "I didn't know you were invited too!"

Hinata sweat and looked around then uneasily lifted his hand.

"He wasn't," Tsukishima Kei answered, sneaking up behind the two.

"Ara ara, you're quite the handful aren't you?" Iriye laughed.

"You have no idea," Tsukishima answers for him.

"I-" before Hinata answered his stomach growled and he ran away in shame.

"So what's the story with him?" Uta lifted an eyebrow.

"He crashed the camp. Wasn't invited, just decided to show up and thought he might get a chance to play. Of course they weren't gonna let that slide," the blonde answered while snickering.

"Ara ara," she shook her head, Tsukishima noticed her habit of overusing that phrase.

"I'm sure he can learn something," Shouta smiled.

"Huh?!" Tsukishima bent down to look Shouta in the eyes, "that nincompoop is incapable of learning anything much less manners and basic volleyball strategies."

"I just see him staring very intently, and I think to myself 'that must be what I look like when I watch' so I thought maybe..." Shouta averted his gaze.

"Don't underestimate the ability of someone to adapt to extreme humiliation. Hinata doesn't strike me as the person who likes to return empty handed," Uta chuckled.

Just as she finished, the whistle went off and it was time for them to get back to practice.

"I'll be back to pick you up after it's over, good luck out there!" Iriye waved and quickly went back to her work in the library.

Shouta scurried next to Ushijima as they lined up for stretching. "Ushijima-san?" he tapped his elbow.

Ushijima turned around with his eyebrows up, intently waiting for Shouta to speak.

"Is there umm, something wrong with you and Iriye-san?"

Wakatoshi sighs, remembering Shouta is very observant about people and their behavioral patterns. The first game Shouta ever played, Ushijima watched as he completely messed with the setters to throw them off their game.

"Nothing you should be worrying about. Don't mind it," was all he replied.

Shouta sighed, dissatisfied with the answer.

_\- Day 3 of STZ Training camp -_

"Once you get bigger and stronger your balance will also improve. Don't feel too bad if you have trouble receiving powerful spikes for now," Ushijima advised.

The ace sat with Shouta at lunch, he had the opportunity to play a bit that day, but the other players were not going easy on him in any way. However, Shouta was thankful for that.

"Guess that's something I still need to work on for now. I hope my arms don't always hurt this bad after receiving a few hits," Shouta sighed.

"You have a lot to go, don't be impatient with your progress. It'll even hurt when you hit the big leagues."

" _If_ I hit the big leagues."

"You will. I know you will."

Ushiwaka was never one to over-exaggerate. He only spoke cold, hard facts, so hearing this from him gave Shouta a lot of hope.

"S-sorry to interrupt," Shouta turned when he heard Iriye's voice, "here's the lunch I made. I hope everything is going okay for you!"

"Why don't you sit with us?" Shouta invited as a way to get them to sit together.

"U-umm," she glanced at Ushijima who wasn't even paying her any attention, but he had a sad demeanor. "You two talk some more. I'd just be a bother not knowing the rules and such!" Uta laughed about it, but he could tell she was dying to get out of there.

Ushijima turned his head slightly, a look of disappointment in his eyes, she bowed and turned around. Shouta saw as she handed Hinata a bento box and put a finger to her mouth and winked as if to say _'our secret'_ and pranced back to wherever she came from.

"Iriye-san is such a good person," Shouta sat back down, "don't you think so?"

"Yes," he agreed.

Shouta opened the box to see a beautifully packed lunch with lots of healthy and colorful options he loved. There was spicy chicken with vegetables, rice that had a cat face, and a nice side of mixed fruit.

"Look at this!" Shouta showed it to the stoic.

"It smells good."

"This could be yours for the small price of talking to Iriye-san! She even gave one to Hinata!" Shouta pointed his chopsticks in the direction the shrimp was scarfing down the delicious meal.

Ushijima huffed and turned back to his lunch that was relatively bland but fine tasting. "That isn't for you to decide."

"I don't like to see you two angry with each other," Shouta finally admitted, "it's like...it's almost like my parents are fighting."

 _'So that's why he's been persistent.'_ Ushijima put down his food and rubbed Shouta's head. It was rare of him to smile at the young boy, but it reassured him in some way.

"I know it's your personal life. I'm sorry for being annoying."

"You are not annoying anyone. No one told you that you're annoying," Ushijima had to drill this into his head.

It was often Shouta would apologize for being an inconvenience. At such a young age, he felt like there wasn't a point of him being alive and he was a waste of space. He constantly asked himself, if his own parents hadn't wanted him, who would?

He was exceptional in most areas, his studies, sports, and he was very respectful, yet he had never been considered for adoption by any family. _'There must be something I'm missing'_ he constantly thought to himself, so he worked and worked to improve in any way.

Ushijima didn't know this about him until he lost his first volleyball game. He was in no way upset about _losing_ , what he was upset about was the serve that didn't make it across the net, it was the last point the opposing team needed to win.

He apologized to Ushijima for _'wasting his time'_ and being a _'useless, good-for-nothing student'_ and told him he could stop teaching him since he was _'an obvious disappointment to all humanity'_.

All it took was Ushijima saying _'you did great today, you didn't disappoint me'_ to make Shouta start to wail and sob.

"Thank you, Ushijima-san. I hope you and Iriye-san can speak again soon," the two smiled at one another and continued to eat their lunch.

From afar, inside a school building, Uta had watched their interaction and smiled herself, "maybe I was concerned for no reason."

_\- Day 4 of STZ Training Camp -_

"They gave you permission to stay over the last day, so I'll come for you tomorrow evening once the camp is done. I don't think I need to tell you to behave yourself, so have fun and eat well," Iriye gave him a bright smile.

"What will you be doing today?" Shouta asked.

"Going to Tokyo today to visit my mother. I won't be able to go once the holidays start so I thought now might be a good time," she thought.

"Ooh, have fun Iriye-san! Thank you for everything!" Shouta bowed. Iriye's expression softened upon Shouta's smile, she gave him a kiss on the forehead and bid him farewell.

Shouta walked to the gym to help set up early in the morning. There wasn't many people besides the Shiratorizawa team and Coach Washijo.

"Look it's our hatchling," Hayato pointed to the child.

 _'Not with that weird name again'_ Shouta rolled his eyes in his mind. He appreciated the sentiment, but something about being called a _hatchling_ was strange to him.

"Why hatchling?" Ushijima asked.

"A hatchling is a baby bird. You know, like he's basically our child and our mascot is the eagle, so Shouta is a baby eagle," Yamagata further explained, the other members laughed because it was simply not funny, but he had a great time explaining.

"Shouta is not a baby bird, he is a baby human," Ushijima cocked an eyebrow.

The members burst into laughter as Shouta sighed, "I'm not a baby, Ushijima-san."

"Ah, that's right."

"What are you STANDING around for you lazy asses?! Get to work!" Washijo yelled.

"YES SIR!" they all responded and quickly returned to their positions.

"I can go wash these and fill them for now," Shouta picked up a box with water bottles.

"I'll lend you a hand. I'm done setting up the net," Ushijima followed behind him.

They didn't really say much as usual, Shouta washed the bottles and Ushijima dried them with a clean towel, when it got to filling them, Ushijima decided to speak up.

"Uta isn't with you today?" he seemed almost ashamed to ask.

"No, she said she was gonna go to visit her mother in Tokyo. That's really far from here isn't it?" Shouta responded.

"She's going alone?" Ushijima showed concern.

"She didn't mention going with anyone."

"...I see."

_\- Day 5 of STZ Training Camp -_

"You would never believe it but Ushiwaka is scared of sea pineapples," Tendou laughed as he talked to a group of trainees and Shouta.

"I am not scared. They just confuse me," Ushijima tried to justify himself to not be humiliated in front of people who idolizes him.

"Same thing," Tendou muttered.

"Why...why do they grow like that?" he began to wonder out loud.

No one felt the need to answer since they were sure they'd be subjected to a billion other questions, but just then, Ushijima's phone rang and he walked away from the crowd.

 _Iriye Uta,_ the caller ID read. He was lost looking at her contact photo where she was smiling very brightly, waving at the camera. It went to voicemail, he didn't have the heart to talk to her at that moment.

Wakatoshi walked away from the noisy crowd, outside the gym and sat on the stairs to listen to the message she left.

"Sorry for the bother, umm...uh," she took a deep breath, "I got tangled with a few responsibilities and I can't go pick Shouta up. If you can leave him back at the orphanage that would be very good. Umm, but of course, if you can't just let me know. I'm sorry again."

Ushijima could hear the dismay in her voice, he couldn't get his mind off whether it had to do with visiting Hina Iriye. Just thinking about how she got the last time made him nervous.

 **Ushijima** : _I'll see he gets home safely_.

 **Iriye** : _Thank you very much. I hope your last day is a success._

The final day was just a few practice matches and 2v2 matches and a nice feast at the end of the day. It was lots of fun for everyone, but Ushijima was secretly hating himself the whole time for being so concerned about whether Uta was doing okay.

Shouta, not knowing what the relationship between Iriye and her parents, was a little disappointed since he wanted to tell her everything, but he said he would call her later after Ushijima had dropped him off.

There was a whirlpool of thoughts that Ushijima couldn't process swirling violently in his head.

The thought of her saying she was going overseas still had his heart shattered into pieces. He couldn't quite understand the feelings of abandonment that haunted him, but he remembers that he didn't want to fall in love with someone for this exact reason.

Wakatoshi thought his mind was made up when he decided to separate himself from her, but he somehow ends up at her front door, worried to death because of that hesitation in her voice.

"What am I doing?" he mutters under his breath and continues walking. However, he remembers she's alone in that giant house and whatever happened she is most likely dealing with on her own.

So, he goes back and knocks on the door, repeating "what am I doing?" a billion times in his head.

"Iriye residence, who's there?" she yells across the gate.

She usually opens the door.

"Ushijima."

"Oh, is Shouta with you?"

"No. I left him already. Can you open the gate?"

"A-uh, no I don't think that's a good idea. I'm really busy, you caught me at a bad time actually," he could tell she was lying.

He was quiet for a moment, thinking he has to come up with some excuse to get her to open the door somehow.

"Can I, umm...use the bathroom? I really need to go..." he hit his forehead with the back of his hand, thinking it was stupid.

Without saying anything, Uta unlocked the gate but swiftly turned back to walk to walk inside. "It's unlocked!" she yelled.

He went in and there was no one in sight anymore. She was hiding.

 _'Does she not want to see me? Maybe this is a mistake'_ he thought while he was in walking in circles in the bathroom. Ushijima thought of apologizing but didn't quite know how to do it.

He took a deep breath and walked outside. He looked in a few rooms and didn't see her anywhere, it wasn't until he went outside all the way into the greenhouse that he sees her. All he saw was her back, long hair down, wearing a light gray sweater dress and black boots.

"Uta?" he tapped her shoulder.

She yelped and almost jammed a sharp gardening tool in his throat, "you SCARED me! I could have killed you?! What are you doing?!"

He couldn't speak the moment he saw her face. There was a deep cut on her left cheek, another next to her eyebrow and on the same side on her forehead.

Without thinking, he reached his hand towards her face, but she slapped it away.

"You can't do that! You can't just come into my house pretending like you didn't ignore me for _weeks!_ That's not how things work Ushijima! I-I opened up to you, I trusted you with something I never told anyone, I have never been so vulnerable in my _life_ with someone and you have been rejecting me ever since!!"

"It's not what you think."

"Then what is it?! I'm sorry if what I told you was too much for you to handle but you could have told me you needed time or even that you didn't want to be friends with someone with so much baggage in their life-"

"I would never think of doing that to you, it wasn't my intention to hurt you."

"Intentionally ignoring someone hurts people you know that, right?" Uta crossed her arms indignantly.

"I'm sorry, I have only been thinking about myself. When the Spring tournament came around I only thought of my team and getting us to victory and I didn't bother to think I was ignoring everyone, especially you. When you told me you planned to move overseas it just reminded me of my father leaving. It brought back bad memories and I pushed you away," Ushijima explained.

Uta sighed, "if you really needed time to think or you were angry you could have _told_ me, I understand why you were upset. This whole time I've been wondering what I did wrong all on my own. Eri has been gone for that training expedition thing, and visiting my mom has been really tough, and I've been getting threats in my mail and-"

"Someone's threatening you?!" Ushijima's eyes went wide.

"Ah, that's not the point, forget it. I mean, I-I was just really, _really_ sad that you have been pushing me away. I thought...I don't know I thought I was more important than that," she turned away from his gaze.

"You are. I'm going to make it up to you, I swear I will," he reached his hand to her face again and she pulled away, turning to him with large, sad eyes. "This time, I will be there."

"My mother.." Uta whispered shakily under breath. It took her a moment to continue when her eyes began to tear up, all she whimpered out was the words "a vase," as she pointed to her face.

It made sense she didn't want to be touched at this time, but Ushijima had to resist the urge he got to hug her and comfort her as he saw her crying.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.

She shook her head, "I think I need some time alone and to think."

He nodded, respecting her wishes but not liking them much. Uta turned back to her plants and shook from trying to hold in her sobbing as Ushijima helped himself towards the door.

Wakatoshi glanced over his shoulder and saw her hugging herself and simply could not let things end like this right now.

"You mean so much more to me than I can ever express," he started.

Ushijima turned around as she did and he stared into her eyes that looked were the most delicate orbs of glass. Her nose and cheeks were red from the crying, but she was still a work of art to him, she always is.

He smiled gently and turned again to the door, "when you'll accept me again, I'm going to make sure no one ever hurts you ever again."

"I'm going to hold that against you!" she wept, "there's no going back on your word now!"

"I don't intend to," he gave her his final word as he finally walked out.

 _'Whatever it takes...'_ he took a deep breath, _'I'm going to be there'_.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone this is my first Haikyuu!! fic, I know OC pairings aren't too popular because let's be real ALL HAIKYUU SHIPS ARE TO DIE FOR but I hope you will consider reading!! [insert that emoji with the pleading eyes]


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